The Biden administration should increase sanctions on the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela and convince European allies to do the same, a group of Senate Republicans said in a June 16 letter to the White House. The lawmakers, including several on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, criticized the White House’s attempts to intervene in negotiations between the Maduro regime and the U.S.-backed opposition party led by Juan Guaido, calling it a “flawed and incoherent policy” and only put the U.S. at the “center of Venezuelan political disputes.” The U.S. in May said it was preparing to ease some sanctions against Venezuela to encourage negotiations between the two parties (see 2205170074).
A new bill introduced by Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., would amend U.S. export regulations to allow Taiwan to more quickly import military goods and defend itself against a potential invasion by China. The text of the Taiwan Weapons Exports Act of 2022 (see 2206150013), released last week, said the bill would add Taiwan to Country Group A:5 under the Export Administration Regulations, which would expedite certain exports of “critical asymmetric defensive capabilities” to Taiwan. The addition of Taiwan to the country group would make it easier for it to import certain items through License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization, the bill said, including “undersea sensors, naval mines, man-portable air defense systems and unmanned aerial vehicles.”
The Center for a New American Security last week published an overview of the international sanctions strategy against Russia, including potential escalatory steps, enforcement so far and potential evasion tactics. The post also includes a breakdown of the sanctions by target and sector, detailing the number of sanctions that have been used to punish Russian elites compared to the country’s defense, transportation, financial, technology and energy sectors.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on June 17 removed a Venezuelan-related entry from its Specially Designated Nationals List. The agency removed Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, who was designated in 2017 for being the former national treasurer and former vice president of finance for Petroleos de Venezuela, the country’s state-run energy company. OFAC didn’t immediately release more information on the delisting.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on June 17 sanctioned Empresa Nicaraguense de Minas (ENIMINAS), Nicaragua’s state-owned mining company, and Ruy Lopez Delgado, the president of its board of directors. OFAC said the government has used ENIMINAS to solidify its control over Nicaragua’s mining sector and enrich government officials.
The European Commission updated its Frequently Asked Questions pages that cover its Russia sanctions regime. The new sections relate to imports and purchase of goods, sale of securities, execution of prior contracts and export-related restrictions. Under the contracts FAQs, the commission addresses what is a contract, whether framework contracts are considered as contracts that benefit from the prior contracts exception to the sanctions regime, and what is an ancillary contract, among other things. The securities FAQs cover whether the sanctions apply to transferable securities issued by private companies and whether the sanctions cover the sale of transferable securities to non-Russian entities that are owned by a Russian national, among other scenarios.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is looking to build on its ability to impose multilateral export controls, said senior BIS official Thea Kendler. Kendler, speaking during a conference last week hosted by the American Association of Exporters and Importers, said the agency wants to capitalize on the highly-coordinated Russia controls to better align future restrictions with a “core group of countries,” echoing comments made by Commerce officials earlier this year who voiced support for a new multilateral export control regime.
The Commerce Department and other government agencies can better tailor their outreach efforts to universities to mitigate export control risks in academia, the Government Accountability Office said in a report last week. Although Commerce, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI all conduct outreach with colleges to prevent illegal deemed exports and other sensitive technology transfers, they can do a better job identifying and analyzing export control “risk factors,” GAO said, and use their “limited resources” to make their outreach more efficient.
The U.K. amended or corrected a number of entries under several of its sanctions regimes. Under the Syria sanctions list, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended the entries for Fares Chehabi, president of the Aleppo Chamber of Industry; Khodr Ali Taher, director of Ella Towers; and the Syrian Petroleum Company. OFSI then corrected the entry for Adnan Slakho, former minister for industry. Under the Libya sanctions list, OFSI amended the entry for Khalifa Ghwell, defense minister of the General National Congress. Under the Iran (Human Rights) sanctions list, OFSI amended seven entries. This listings for Ali Khalili, Ali-Akbar Yasaghi, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, Mortez Tamaddon, Mostafa Bozorgnia, Moussa Khalilollahi and Toraj Kazemi were updated, and all of the individuals remain subject to an asset freeze. Four entries under the Chemical Weapons sanctions regime were amended: the agency updated the listings for Vladimir Stephanovich Alexseyev, first deputy head of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency; Vladimir Mikhailovich Bogdanov, former director of the Criminalistics Institute and head of the FSB (Federal Security Service) Special Technology Center; Kirill Vasilyev, director of the Criminalistics Institute at the FSB; and Alexei Semenovich Sedov, head of the FSB 2nd Service. All are believed to have been involved in the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology published a report this week on China’s state-operated laboratory system, which is used to drive the country’s innovation and research and ultimately reduce its dependence on foreign technogloies. The report includes a dataset of 469 state labs, including a table of labs with at least one "supporting unit" subject to U.S. sanctions or export controls, such as the Commerce Department’s Entity List.