China’s so-called unreliable entity list could present compliance challenges for multinational companies and may be used to retaliate against U.S. export controls and sanctions, trade lawyers said. As a result, companies trying to comply with both U.S. and Chinese regulations may have to choose one over the other, risking sanctions from at least one country, law firms said.
A U.S. citizen was sentenced to 21 months in prison for stealing technology data from U.S. companies and illegally exporting it to South Korea, the Justice Department said Sept. 16. Si Mong Park stole technical proprietary data from two American defense contractors where he worked as a software engineer, the agency said. In 2011, he took data related to military aircraft and a missile system to South Korea, presenting the data to non-U.S. people to “drum up business for his company,” the Justice Department said. The information contained technical data subject to export controls under the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Along with the prison sentence, he was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
The European Union and the United Kingdom sanctioned two people for human rights violations in Libya and three entities for violating the United Nations arms embargo targeting Libya, the EU said Sept. 21. The designations are for Mahmoud al-Werfalli, a commander of the Benghazi-based al-Saiqa Brigade, and Moussa Diab, who helped illegally detain migrants and refugees in camps. The sanctions also target Sigma Airlines, Avrasya Shipping and Med Wave Shipping, commercial cargo companies.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned five people for helping the Nicolas Maduro regime undermine democracy in Venezuela. The designations target Miguel Antonio Jose Ponente Parra, Guillermo Antonio Luces Osorio, Jose Bernabe Gutierrez Parra, Chaim Jose Bucaran Paraguan and Williams Jose Benavides Rondon, a Sept. 22 news release said. All have helped Maduro manipulate the country’s parliamentary elections by placing control of Venezuela’s opposition parties “in the hands of politicians affiliated” with the Maduro regime, OFAC said. The agency also revised its sanctions entry for Maduro.
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The Bureau of Industry and Security’s proposal to reduce the number of countries eligible for license exception Additional Permissive Reexports (APR) (see 2004270025) could damage U.S. competitiveness and lead to overly broad export restrictions, trade groups and industry said in comments released this month. If BIS follows through on the change, commenters suggested that it first limit the scope of the rule, which could potentially restrict more than 20 countries from receiving certain U.S. reexports that are controlled for national security reasons.
The U.S. announced a range of new sanctions and restrictions against Iran, including an executive order, additions to the Commerce Department’s Entity List (see 2009210018) and new sanctions by the Treasury and State Department. The executive order, issued Sept. 21, targets Iran-related arms transfers, while the Treasury and State Department’s sanctions target a range of people and entities associated with Iranian nuclear and arms development.
The U.S. officially initiated the snapback of United Nations sanctions on Iran (see 2008210009), Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sept. 19. The move will return “virtually all” sanctions on Iran that were previously terminated by the U.N. under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Pompeo said. He said the U.S. made the move because the U.N. did not extend the Iranian arms embargo scheduled to expire in October (see 2004130011).
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation revised 11 entries under its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida sanctions. The revisions include changes to identifying information for the entries, which remain subject to an asset freeze, OFSI said Sept. 18.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 47 entities and individuals to its Entity List for “acting contrary” to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. The additions include entities in Canada, China, Hong Kong, Iran, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Designations were for a range of illegal procurement activities, including sending nuclear-related items and other products to Iran. BIS will also correct four existing entries under China.