The Office of Foreign Assets Control is soliciting comments concerning information collection activities required by the Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts. Comments are due by Aug. 15.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will release its updated Licensing 2.0 application to the Defense Export Control and Compliance System on June 24, the agency said this week. The updates will “provide greater flexibility and security for users and system administrators,” DDTC said, calling it a “significant step in DDTC’s effort to continuously modernize the DECCS application suite.” To make the change, DECCS Registration and Licensing will go offline at 2 p.m. EDT June 24 and resume June 27 at 8 a.m. EDT.
Bureau of Industry and Security Undersecretary Alan Estevez this week again stressed the importance of building a new multilateral export control regime, saying that’s one of his priorities as he begins his tenure at BIS. The U.S. and its allies need a new regime “for the 21st century,” Estevez said, specifically one that isn’t only limited to dual-use technologies. “We need to work with our partners on that,” hr said during a June 14 virtual conference hosted by the Center for a New American Security. “We have a great coalition and great momentum, and I intend to do that.”
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The Bureau of Industry and Security is considering revising its voluntary self-disclosure review process to focus on “more serious” disclosures, said Matthew Axelrod, BIS’s top enforcement official. Axelrod, speaking during a June 14 Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee meeting, said the change could better dedicate the agency’s time to VSDs that warrant more attention.
The U.K.'s Department of International Trade released guidance on how to comply with the myriad of trade restrictions and sanctions that apply to British businesses that trade with Russia. The guidance covers sectoral sanctions, export and import bans and licensing, tariffs on Russian and Belarusian goods, financial sanctions and transport sanctions.
A U.K. court ordered Alexander George, a U.K. citizen and former company boss, to pay over $851,000 relating to export control violations, Revenue & Customs announced. George was convicted in 2018 of violating U.K. export controls by exporting fighter jet parts to Iran and sentenced to two and a half years in prison over the illicit scheme. If the defendant fails to pay the court-ordered penalty on time, he will see another three months in prison, Revenue & Customs said, with the fine still due.
A group of European countries not in the EU aligned with a series of sanctions decisions implemented by the bloc relating to Russia and Belarus' invasion of Ukraine and to ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida, the European Council announced. Groups of countries aligned with five recent sanctions moves relating to the war in Ukraine and one recent move over ISIL and al-Qaida.
Japan imposed another wave of sanctions on Russia, laying out an export ban of certain goods used to support industrial infrastructure, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced June 10, according to an unofficial translation. The export ban covers wood and wood products, steel storage tanks, hand or processing tools and machines, electrical equipment, trains, bulldozers and trucks. The restrictions will enter into force June 17.
The U.S. this week spoke with China to again warn it about helping Russia avoid international sanctions, a senior administration official said. During a June 13 meeting between U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Politburo Member Yang Jiechi, Sullivan “reiterated concerns that the United States has raised repeatedly with China with respect to certain kinds of assistance to Russia,” the official said during a call with reporters. Although U.S. officials said they haven’t yet seen signs that China is helping Moscow evade sanctions, the U.S. has publicly and privately warned Beijing it will face severe penalties if it does so, including secondary sanctions and strict export controls (see 2203140009).