Export licenses are not required to ship defense products to Puerto Rico, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said in a frequently-asked-question released May 19. The DDTC also stressed that licenses are not needed for defense exports to American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. “No export occurs when a defense article is shipped to Puerto Rico,” DDTC said. “Therefore, no export license or other approval from DDTC is required.”
President Donald Trump issued an executive order May 19 to provide “regulatory relief” for companies during the COVID-19 pandemic, stressing that agencies should be fair when issuing enforcement decisions. Government agencies should modify, waive or provide exemptions for any regulations “that may inhibit economic recovery,” the order states, adding that agencies should abide by “principles of fairness.” The order emphasizes that agencies “bear the burden” of proving alleged violations of regulations and says enforcement actions should be “prompt and fair.” Penalties for violations should be “proportionate” and transparent, the order says, and liability for violations should be imposed “only for violations of statutes or duly issued regulations” with an opportunity for the penalized party to respond. “Agencies must be accountable for their administrative enforcement decisions,” the order says. The order says it does not apply to national security or homeland security functions of the U.S., except for “procurement actions and actions involving the import or export of non-defense articles and services.”
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation submitted its quarterly report to Parliament on its asset-freezing regime, OFSI said May 19. The report provides details of U.K. sanctions actions from October through December, including data on total funds frozen, new designations, delistings, renewals, licensing and more.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Iranian officials and a group controlled by the country’s law enforcement authority for human rights abuses, Treasury said May 20. The designations target Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, Iran’s interior minister, seven senior officials of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces and a commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The sanctions also target the LEF Cooperative Foundation -- an “economic collaborative” controlled by the LEF -- along with its director and board of trustees.
The Treasury Department issued a proposed rule to modify mandatory declaration requirements for certain transactions involving critical technologies. Under the rule, transactions would require a declaration if the critical technology would normally be subject to a U.S. export license. This would be a change from certain declaration requirements for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. outlined under a 2018 pilot program, which based those decisions on whether the transactions met criteria established by the North American Industry Classification System.
CBP has removed a State Department license exemption from the Automated Export System that has been revised by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, according to a May 19 CSMS message. The exemption, which was revised last year (see 2005120027), was removed from the AES Trade Interface Requirements appendix for International Traffic in Arms Regulations exemption codes after an April 19, 2020, end date for the exemption, CBP said. The exemption is no longer accepted in Electronic Export Information submissions. Exporters that need to update previously accepted shipments should refer to the exemptions section of the DDTC’s frequently asked questions site or contact the DDTC response team, CBP said.
The State Department rescinded a policy of denial for a subsidiary of BAE Systems located in Saudi Arabia, according to a notice. The policy no longer applies to BAE Systems Saudi Arabia Limited (BAES SAL), which was one of several BAES subsidiaries convicted of violating the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations in 2010. The State Department rescinded the denial policy after receiving a request from BAES SAL and determining the action was “in the national security and foreign policy interests” of the U.S.
The State Department issued statutory debarment for 23 people for violations of the Arms Export Control Act, the agency said in a notice. The State Department stressed that they are blocked from participating in activities regulated by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, including brokering activities, exports and temporary imports. The debarment period will last for three years, at which time the people can apply for reinstatement of export privileges, the agency said. If their export privileges are not reinstated, they remain debarred.
The Department of Justice charged the leaders of a sanctions-evading financial services company in Iran with wire fraud, money laundering, identity theft and sanctions violations, the agency said in a May 18 press release. PAYMENT24 CEO Seyed Sajjad Shahidian and COO Vahid Vali used the company to help Iranian citizens avoid U.S. financial sanctions against Iran, which included purchases of U.S. computer software, software licenses and computer servers. The company offered a package to help clients purchase goods and services from U.S. businesses, including a PayPal account, a fake “ID card,” a remote IP address from the United Arab Emirates and a Visa gift card. The company charged a fee to evade U.S. sanctions, the press release said.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who was testifying in front of the Senate Banking Committee May 19, was asked by Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., why the government hasn't placed sanctions on Huawei. He said that Huawei and some other Chinese companies aren't really private-sector firms, and that they were built by stealing American intellectual property.