India’s Ministry of Defense recently issued two open general export licenses for exports of certain parts and components and exports of intra-company transfer of technology. Both licenses authorize exports to Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Britain, the U.S., Canada, Italy, Poland and Mexico.
A Turkey sanctions bill passed 403-16 on Oct. 29 in the House of Representatives, despite Turkey's decision to stop shelling a part of Syria near its border. The bill requires the government to impose financial sanctions on Halkbank, a Turkish-owned bank involved in Iranian sanctions evasions, which also employed a client of the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
The United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced a penalty of about $180,000 on a telecommunication service provider for violations of European Union sanctions on Syria, according to an Oct. 28 notice. The company, Telia Carrier UK, “indirectly facilitated” phone calls to SyriaTel, an EU-sanctioned entity, OFSI said. The calls led to the “company repeatedly making funds and economic resources indirectly available to the designated entity over an extended period of time,” the notice said.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 21-25 in case they were missed.
The Commerce Department plans to release proposed export controls on emerging technologies within the “next few weeks” and an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on foundational technologies before the end of the year, a top Commerce official said. Matt Borman, the Commerce deputy assistant secretary for export administration, suggested Commerce has been eager to release both controls to ease concerns from U.S. trade groups and companies, which have warned the agency against overly broad, unilateral controls.
The United Kingdom's Department for International Trade updated its guidance on trade sanctions, arms embargoes and other restrictions, the DIT said in an Oct. 28 notice. The guidance includes a list of countries with current sanctions, a summary of the U.K.’s key sanctions measures and what the sanctions prohibit.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation released a guidance on Russian sanctions after the U.K. leaves the European Union, expanding on details of the U.K.’s financial and investment sanctions. The guidance provides information on where trade and financial sanctions may overlap, as well as information on Russian asset freezes, blocked payments, loan and credit arrangements and sanctions exceptions. The guidance also provides a set of frequently asked questions.
A Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson suggested that the U.S. and the United Nations should remove sanctions from North Korea because they are not solving the problem.
The State Department is seeking comments on an information collection related to disclosures of the Arms Export Control Act, according to an Oct. 28 notice. In a summary of the information collection, the State Department said it has developed a “discrete form” for submitting voluntary disclosures “as part of an IT modernization project designed to streamline the collection and use of information by” the Directorate of Defense Trade controls. The form will allow DDTC and submitters “to more easily track submissions,” the notice said. Comments are due Nov. 27.
The House is scheduled to mark up a bill on Oct. 29 that would reauthorize the Export-Import Bank until 2029, increase the bank’s lending authority and introduces a “temporary board” in a situation where the bank lacks a quorum in the future. The bill, introduced by House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., would also rename the bank the Export Finance Agency. Among the most notable portions of the bill is a provision that would increase the bank’s lending power gradually over several years, from $145 billion in 2020 to $175 billion in 2026.