The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control updated its Specially Designated Nationals List with Venezuela-related designations, according to a March 19 notice. OFAC added one person and one entity to the list, and made changes to entries about seven existing people or entities on the list, the notice said. The agency also removed 12 people from its SDN list, but the names of people added to entries on the list of changes also appear in the list of those removed.
Venezuela is asking a World Trade Organization panel to intervene in U.S.-imposed sanctions on the country, including those imposed on Petroleos de Venezuela, the state-run oil company, according to a memo Venezuela sent to the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body chairperson. The U.S. “refused” consultations with Venezuelan officials after the country requested consultations in December, prompting Venezuela to take the next step and request establishment of a WTO dispute resolution panel. In the memo, Venezuela describes the U.S. actions as “coercive and trade-restrictive measures” and an “attempt to isolate it economically.” Venezuela also called them “discriminatory.”
The State Department is increasing civil monetary penalties for violations of the Arms Export Control Act to account for inflation, it said in a notice published in the March 19 Federal Register. For violations of AECA Section 38(e) (control of arms exports and imports) the maximum penalty will rise to $1,163,217 (from $1,134,602). Penalties for incentive payments in offset agreement violations under Section 39A(c) will rise to the greater of $845,764 or five times the payment, up from $824,959 or five times the payment; and penalties for transactions with countries supporting acts of terrorism under Section 40(k) will rise to $1,006,699, from $981,935.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 11-15 in case they were missed.
Counterfeit goods made up as much as 6.8 percent of total imports into the European Union in 2016, up from 5 percent just three years earlier, mirroring a worldwide increase in trade in counterfeits, the European Union Intellectual Property Office said in a new report. China remained the world’s top shipper of counterfeits, though Hong Kong plays an increasing role as a transit point, and “India, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates remain among the top provenance economies,” the report said.
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices for March 18 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
Oleg Deripaska, a Russian businessman who was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018, sued the Treasury Department last week, alleging its sanctions rely on “unsubstantiated” allegations and have led to the “utter devastation” of his “wealth, reputation, and economic livelihood,” according to court documents. The suit, filed March 15, requests that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia order Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control to remove the sanctions. It names Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Treasury Department OFAC Director Andrea Gacki, the Treasury Department and OFAC as defendants.
In the March 15 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control published updates to its Specially Designated Nationals List by listing nine people associated with Venezuela, according to two OFAC notices. Both notices, which will be published in the Federal Register, announce sanctions that were issued last month. The first notice lists four people with ties to Venezuela whose sanctions were first announced by OFAC on Feb. 25, and the second notice lists five people associated with Venezuela whose sanctions were announced Feb. 15.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control amended a general license related to U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, according to a March 14 OFAC notice. The license allows transactions with PDV Holding and CITGO Holding, two oil companies and subsidiaries of Petroleos de Venezuela, the U.S.-sanctioned and Venezuela state-owned oil company. The license also allows transactions with PDV Holding’s and CITGO Holding’s subsidiaries. The license changes the expiration date to automatically renew on the first day of each month, the notice said, and is “valid for a period of 18 months from the effective date” of the general license “or the date of any subsequent renewal of (the license), whichever is later.” The license, General License No. 7A, replaces General License No. 7, which was issued Jan. 28.