The Bureau of Industry and Security denied a New Jersey man export privileges after he illegally exported electronic components to Russia, BIS said in a March 8 order. BIS denied Alexander Brazhnikov export privileges for 15 years. Brazhnikov pleaded guilty to the charges in 2015 and was sentenced to 70 months in prison in 2016 (see 1607010044).
The United Nations Security Council removed one former Sudanese military official from its sanctions list because he died, the UNSC said March 5. The council delisted Adam Shareif, who was sanctioned as the commander of the Sudanese Liberation Army.
The Bureau of Industry and Security denied export privileges for a German aircraft maintenance company and fined it more than $50,000 for procuring U.S. parts and components for a sanctioned Iranian airline. MSI Aircraft Maintenance Services International GmbH & Co. worked with Iran’s Mahan Airways (see 2011270001) to illegally export U.S.-origin reservoir and valve assemblies, which were controlled under the Export Administration Regulations, BIS said in a March 5 order. The agency said it will waive MSI’s three-year export denial if the company pays the fine, cooperates with BIS during a three-year probationary period and doesn’t commit any more EAR violations.
House Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., told an online audience that over the next four months, the U.S. government is going to set the stage for a trade program that supports environmental goals. Blumenauer, a longtime environmentalist, said he's not concerned that the European Union will dictate the terms of a carbon border adjustment mechanism, since its politicians have a head start. “We’ve had preliminary discussions, we’re going to have more,” he said during a webinar March 5 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on environment and trade.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on March 5 updated an Iran-related entry on its Specially Designated Nationals List. The agency updated the entry for Hasan Mortezavi, who was sanctioned in 2010 for involvement with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force. OFAC didn’t release more information, and the Treasury Department didn’t comment.
Five companies said they may have violated U.S. sanctions, export controls or anti-corruption laws, according to their February Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The potential violations involved illegal exports, providing services to sanctioned territories and gift cards sent to the Chinese government.
Following a package of measures meant to flush out ties between United Kingdom businesses and forced labor practices in China's Xinjiang region, compliance efforts have ramped up to ensure that supply chains are free of any association with the practice imposed on the region's Uighur Muslim population. In October 2020 and January of this year, U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced a suite of four policies meant to eliminate forced labor from supply chains (see 2101120056). The policies include business guidance to U.K. companies with links to Xinjiang; strengthening the Modern Slavery Act (MSA), that includes levying fines for non-compliance; transparency requirements for government procurement; and a review of export controls to Xinjiang.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's January rule that expanded export restrictions on foreign military intelligence agencies (see 2102190042) and other activities of U.S. companies could lead to expansive licensing requirements and place burdensome compliance obligations on U.S. companies, Akin Gump said in a March 1 letter to BIS. The law firm said it represents a client that may be affected by the rule’s broad language and urged the agency to narrow its breadth to limit impacts on legitimate business.
The European Union extended by one year sanctions against people responsible for the misappropriation of Ukrainian state funds, the European Council said March 4. Now expiring March 6, 2022, the sanctions continue to impose asset freezes on seven people and also extend sanctions against one person until Sept. 6, 2021. The sanctions were last extended in March 2020 until March 6 this year.
CBP is trying to reduce the amount of time it spends searching through paper documents for automobile exports, Jim Swanson, director of the Cargo and Security Controls Division, for Cargo and Conveyance Security, CBP Office of Field Operations, said March 3 during an Airforwarders Association virtual event. CBP is testing use of the Document Image System for providing used-car titles within the Automated Export System, Swanson said. “The next phase of that, and one we are very close to and hopefully we'll start to see rollout this year, is an electronic process” that allows CBP to take information from AES and do a full title search, he said. “Then, and only then, if there are issues with that would we ask for additional information,” he said. The requirement to provide information within 72 hours of departure isn't going away, but this would allow the process to move along faster, he said. Swanson said that about 85% of all export resources CBP uses are involved in looking at used motor vehicle titles. CBP said it is planning to update AES to allow for integrated title searches this fall (see 2103030027).