Russian companies have bought millions of dollars worth of drone parts from China-based drone accessories supplier Tarot-RC, risk advisory firm Kharon said Aug. 6. Kharon said the parts were made by Chinese company Wenzhou Feiyue Aviation Technology Co. and have been shipped into Russia in “significant quantities” since the start of 2023 despite claims by Tarot-RC “that it does not engage in such activity.” Trade records and other public data “contradict that assertion, pointing to a consistent influx of Tarot-RC components into Russia, both through direct shipments from Wenzhou Feiyue Aviation Technology Co. and through intermediaries that move products from China and Hong Kong into Russia,” Kharon said.
Lithuania's customs authority fined an unnamed Lithuania-registered export company over $14.8 million for violating EU sanctions, according to an unofficial translation. The company exported vehicles to Russia through Kazakhstan, Belarus and Turkey, and “did not ensure compliance with the restrictions and obligations set by the international sanctions implemented in the Republic of Lithuania,” the customs agency said, adding that it detained and seized six “tractor semi-trailers.” It also said this “is not the first time that such sanctions have been applied to companies for violations of the law on international sanctions,” but didn’t provide more details.
The U.S. Navy is trying to help commercial cargo ships maintain the alternative trade routes companies have found as the U.S. works to end Houthi attacks on ships transiting the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, Vice Admiral George Wikoff said. And although the U.S. has used sanctions to target several Iran-backed networks helping to supply the Houthis, he said the U.S.-designated terror group is increasingly diversifying its suppliers and is becoming a legitimate technology exporter.
The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls this week announced its roster of members for the 2024-2026 term of the Defense Trade Advisory Group. The DTAG, which offers recommendations to DDTC about defense export control issues, recently suggested improvements to the government's foreign military sales program (see 2310130032).
The U.K. recently updated its export control guidance for academic research, adding new language to clarify how controls apply to research meant for publication or that benefit from “public domain exemptions.” The guidance specifies that research isn’t considered in the public domain until it’s “published and accessible to the public,” so sending “controlled” research overseas for peer review would require a license. “Once published the requirement of the licence will lapse as it is now in the public domain,” the U.K. said.
Ljiljana Karadzic, wife of former Serbian President Radovan Karadzic, said the U.S. government's recent sponsorship of a U.N. Security Council Resolution related to petitions for sanctions delisting helps her case that the Office of Foreign Assets Control unreasonably delayed in ruling on her delisting petition (Ljiljana Karadzic v. Bradley Smith, D.D.C. # 23-01226).
A bipartisan group of 46 House members urged the Biden administration this week to fully use “all tools at its disposal,” including sanctions, to crack down on Hezbollah’s international financing network.
The U.S. is on track to inform Congress later this month that Australia has a comparable export control system to that in the U.S., clearing the way for the country to benefit from eased defense trade restrictions, the two nations said in a joint statement after Aug. 6 meetings in Maryland.
The U.K. last week expanded the criteria under which an individual or entity can be sanctioned under the nation's Russia sanctions regime. The changes entered into force July 31. The U.K. may now sanction an individual who directly or indirectly "owns or controls" or is "working as a director (whether executive or non-executive), trustee, or other manager or equivalent of," a sanctioned individual or entity. An individual also can be sanctioned for providing financial services to a sanctioned party. The sanctions amendment also altered the "ship specification criteria" to "specify additional activities" for which a ship may be affected.
Reps. Young Kim, R-Calif., and Colin Allred, D-Texas, introduced a bill last week that would authorize the U.S. president to impose property-blocking sanctions on People’s Republic of China (PRC) entities that harm the environment or public health in Africa.