The State Department designated former Namibian government officials Bernhardt Esau and Sakeus Shanghala for involvement in corruption, the agency said June 15. The State Department said they “undermined” the Namibian public’s faith in their government’s democratic institutions and used their political influence for their own benefit. The agency also sanctioned Esau's wife, Swamma, and his son, Philippus.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for June 7-11 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Following reports that China is continuing to buy U.S.-made DNA equipment despite U.S. export restrictions, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said the Bureau of Industry and Security needs to strengthen its controls.
The European General Court annulled the sanctions designations of two individuals -- former Ukrainian President Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych and his son, Oleksandr Viktorovych Yanukovych, according to two court decisions last week. The listings were dropped because the European Council had not “satisfied itself” that the Ukrainian authorities afforded the listed individuals proper rights of defense and judicial protection in the criminal proceedings on which the council relied in making its sanctions determination. Both were originally included on the EU's sanctions regime in 2014 as individuals “subject to criminal proceedings in Ukraine to investigate crimes in connection with the embezzlement of Ukrainian State funds and their illegal transfer outside Ukraine.”
Former Commerce Department official Melissa Mannino joined BakerHostetler's International Trade and National Security group as a partner in its Washington office, the firm announced in a June 7 news release. Mannino formerly served in Commerce's Office of Chief Counsel for Industry and Security, including as chief of the Enforcement and Litigation Division. She most recently worked at Wilson Sonsini as a trade lawyer on export controls, economic sanctions and foreign investment issues.
The European Parliament is calling for greater sanctions on Belarus following the forced landing of a Ryanair flight and subsequent arrest of journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega. While 88 individuals, including the current president, and seven entities are listed under the EU's Belarus sanctions regime, the EU called for a “fourth package” with sectoral sanctions including a “ban on imports of oil products, potash fertilisers, metal products and wood and wood products,” a June 10 resolution said. The Parliament also underscored the need to sanction all relevant state-run enterprises helping the Belarusian regime through foreign exchange revenue and to ramp up efforts to combat Belarusian cigarette smuggling, which is a large source of revenue for the current regime, the resolution said.
Jessica Johanna Oseguera Gonzalez, a dual U.S.-Mexico citizen and daughter of the leader of Mexican drug trafficking group Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for violating the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, the Department of Justice said in a June 11 news release. Oseguera Gonzalez “engaged in financial dealings” with six Mexican companies that had been designated by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. She owned two OFAC-designated companies, J&P Advertising and JJGON S.P.R., and was a high-ranking officer at four other listed businesses. Oseguera Gonzalez's father, CJNG leader Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, and her uncle, Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, the leader of the Los Cuinis cartel, also were sanctioned by OFAC.
Slack Technologies, an American software company that operates a business collaboration app, said it may have violated U.S. sanctions laws. The company “recently” submitted an initial voluntary self-disclosure to the Office of Foreign Assets Control after discovering customer accounts that may have used its products and services “for the benefit” of sanctioned people, Slack said in a June 3 Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The Commerce Department published its spring 2021 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including two new mentions of emerging technology rules and new export controls on certain camera systems.
European and U.S. former government officials said they think the U.S. and European countries will find much common ground in efforts to make trade work for working people, but that getting on the same page with China will be a challenge.