More than three weeks after a top Commerce official said the agency’s first set of proposed controls on emerging technologies would be released within the ”next few weeks,” (see 1910290062) the proposal is still under review. Commerce now hopes to release the proposed controls “in the next couple weeks,” Matt Borman, Commerce deputy undersecretary for export administration, said during a Nov. 20 Materials and Equipment Technical Advisory Committee meeting.
Japan is revising its export controls for certain technologies and machine parts, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Nov. 19. The controls will impact certain “detonation” engines, “control devices of gear machine tools,” “optical sensors” and “microwave equipment,” Japan said, according to an unofficial translation.
A Virginia-based information technology company may have violated U.S. sanctions in 2017, the company said in a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the period ended on Sept. 30. The company, DXC Technology, said it voluntarily disclosed possible violations to the Office of Foreign Assets Control stemming from “insurance premium data and claims data” processed by two partially owned joint ventures of Xchanging, a London technology company that DXC acquired in 2017. DXC also sent a copy of the disclosure to the United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. The company said it is “finalizing its internal investigation” of the violations and plans to give OFAC more information in early 2020.
A South American airline may have violated U.S. sanctions against Cuba, the airline said in an October filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Avianca Holdings said it recently became subject to U.S. sanctions regulations when its parent company, Synergy Aerospace Corp., conducted a 2018 share-transfer with a Delaware-based company “wholly-owned” by Synergy, the filings said. Soon after the transfer, Avianca said it discovered its “regularly scheduled” flights between Central and South America and Cuba were subject to U.S. laws and may have violated the U.S. Cuban Assets Control Regulations.
The U.S. is ending a sanctions waiver for an Iranian nuclear site and plans to sanction certain Iraqi officials, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Nov. 18. Pompeo said the U.S. will be ending the waiver for the Fordow nuclear facility on Dec. 15. The waiver, which allows certain activities related to the nuclear plant, will be terminated due to Iran beginning uranium enrichment activities at the plant, Pompeo said. “The right amount of uranium enrichment for the world’s largest state sponsor of terror is zero,” he said. “The United States rejects this approach completely and calls on all nations to do the same.”
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 12-15 in case they were missed.
The U.S. will continue sanctioning Venezuela's mining sector and will increase efforts to target countries and foreign groups that support the Nicolas Maduro regime, a top Treasury Department official said.
The Commerce Department has been “slow” to complete a series of export control reviews mandated by the Export Control Reform Act, including the agency’s upcoming controls on emerging and foundational technologies, Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said.
The Commerce Department’s decision to renew the temporary general license for Huawei “won't have a substantial impact on Huawei's business either way,” the company said in a Nov. 19 statement. Huawei said the 90-day reprieve (see 1911180036), which authorizes a narrow set of transactions with the U.S. despite Huawei’s placement on the Entity List, “does not change the fact that Huawei continues to be treated unfairly.”
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated its Iran sanctions to correct identifying information for Mehr Bank, OFSI said Nov. 18. Mehr Bank is still subject to sanctions.