The Federal Maritime Commission released a notice of proposed rulemaking further refining prohibited practices for demurrage and detention, which is required under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA).
The EU officially imposed its eighth sanctions package on Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, the European Council said Oct. 6. The restrictions, which include a price cap related to the maritime transport of Russian oil to third-party countries, were imposed after Russia's illegal annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine. The European Commission welcomed official adoption of the restrictions proposed last week (see 2209290025).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 29 sanctioned an international network of companies that have sold hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum products to end users in Asia. The designations target a range of Iranian and international brokers and front companies, including Iran Chemical Industries Investment Company, Middle East Kimiya Pars Co., India-based Tibalaji Petrochem Private Limited, Hong Kong-based Sierra Vista Trading Limited, United Arab Emirates-based Clara Shipping LLC and others, including the Panama-flagged liquid petroleum gas tanker Gas Allure. Along with OFAC, the State Department sanctioned China-based Zhonggu Storage and Transportation Co. Ltd. and WS Shipping Co. Ltd. for their involvement in Iran's petrochemical trade.
The State Department is monitoring whether the U.S. delivery of certain F-35 aircraft -- which were revealed this month to contain certain Chinese components -- violated export controls, senior agency official Mike Miller said. He said the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is “certainly tracking” the case but declined to say whether the agency will issue any penalties. “As to what compliance actions we may be taking with the company,” Miller said, “I can’t speak to that in specific.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control announced two separate settlement agreements this week, fining a Switzerland- and a Monaco-based wealth management company for violating U.S. sanctions. OFAC said both companies committed violations due to “deficiencies” in their sanctions compliance practices.
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) will take time to implement, and the Federal Maritime Commission still needs companies to bring cases so it can effectively regulate ocean traffic, FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei said Sept. 19 during a panel discussion at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual Government Affairs Conference.
Two senators plan to introduce a bill that would impose mandatory sanctions against any foreign financial entity not complying with the G-7's and EU’s upcoming price cap on Russian oil. The bill, which is still being drafted, has bipartisan support on Capitol Hill but not from the Treasury Department, with one official suggesting the legislation is unnecessary.
With the price cap on Russian oil products set to take effect in December, trade and commodity experts expressed concern during a Sept. 9 panel at Brookings Institution. In his announcement of the measures, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said the aim of the price cap is to limit profits from Russian oil sales and cut into revenue generated for Russia but in a way that won't cut into the overall availability of oil products. The cap will work by targeting services supporting ocean shipping, such as insurance and brokers.
CBP posted several documents ahead of the Sept. 14 Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting:
The Federal Maritime Commission should issue an emergency order requiring carriers and terminal operators to share more information on cargo availability with shippers and other carriers, more than a dozen motor carriers and logistics companies said. The companies, most of which move freight at the Port of New York and New Jersey, said inadequate information sharing has created an emergency that is hurting their operations and restricting cargo from moving efficiently.