Commerce revoked export privileges for Sammy Smith, who was convicted in 2018 of violating the Export Control Act after trying to illegally export firearms components from the U.S. to Turkey, Commerce said in an Aug. 30 notice. Smith tried to export several items on the U.S. Munitions List, including “glock pistol upper receivers, barrels and recoil springs, Lone Wolf pistol upper receivers with matching barrels and a Beretta PX4 pistol short barrel,” Commerce said. Smith was sentenced to two months in prison, six months of supervised release and a $100 fine, the notice said. Commerce revoked Smith’s export privileges for seven years dating from his July 9, 2018, conviction.
The Food and Drug Administration announced that it has “fully transitioned” to its year-old Export Listing Module for the European Union dairy export list and all export lists maintained for Chile and China. U.S. establishments that are currently included on the EU collagen, gelatin or seafood export lists “should submit applications in the ELM if they wish to remain on these lists,” FDA said on its website. And “effective immediately, any U.S. establishment that wishes to be included on any FDA-maintained export list for food products should apply in the ELM,” FDA said. Launched in July 2018 (see 1807100050), FDA’s ELM is “an electronic portal for receiving and processing requests from FDA-regulated establishments that seek to be included on all export lists for FDA-regulated food products” that may be required by some importing countries. FDA said the ELM will notify currently listed establishments that they must resubmit their ELM applications every two years and update their listing information, else they will be removed from the lists.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on three Iranian entities and made changes to one entry on its Specially Designated Nationals List, according to a Sept. 3 sanctions notice. The action targets Astronautics Research Institute, the Iran Space Agency and the Iran Space Research Center. OFAC also added identifying information for Alfredo Leyva Beltran, a Mexican national listed with the Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker Kingpin (SDNTK) indication. OFAC did not immediately provide more details.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned an oil tanker that shipped more than 2 million barrels of Iranian crude oil to aid Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force, Treasury said in an Aug. 30 press release. The tanker, Adrian Darya 1, and its captain, Akhilesh Kumar, are being sanctioned for providing support to terrorism, Treasury said. Treasury said the IRGC-QF’s “highest-ranking officials” oversee exports of Iran’s oil and hide its origin, sending it to Syria or “IRGC-QF proxies across the region.” The ship, formerly known as Grace 1, was recently detained by Gibraltar and released over U.S. objections (see 1908190036).
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control published the Nicaraguan Sanctions Regulations, detailing what transactions are blocked and exempted and listing penalties for violations of the sanctions, OFAC said in a notice. The agency said it plans to release a “more comprehensive” guidance, general licenses and policy statements about the regulations. The sanctions take effect Sept. 4.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security issued a guidance for exports, re-exports and transfers to Pakistan, covering license requirements for items subject to the Export Administration Regulations and best practices for screening Pakistani customers.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 26-30 in case they were missed.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species recently adopted widespread changes to international restrictions on trade in plants and wildlife at its triennial Conference of the Parties held Aug. 17-28 in Geneva. Among those changes are an expanded exemption from permit requirements for finished goods, including instruments, made from certain species of rosewood that will take effect sometime in November.
A Bureau of Industry and Security official acknowledged a delay in the agency’s proposed rulemaking for foundational technologies, saying she and other top Commerce Department officials expected the notice to be published by now. “I personally thought foundational would be out faster than it is. It was not just higher-level people,” said Hillary Hess, BIS’s director of the regulatory policy division, speaking during a Sept. 3 panel hosted by the American Bar Association.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated two people and three entities under its North Korean sanctions regulations and added a ship to its Specially Designated Nationals List, Treasury said in an Aug. 30 press release. OFAC designated Taiwan-based Huang Wang Ken and Chen Mei Hsiang and Taiwan-based companies Jui Pang Shipping Co Ltd (Jui Pang) and Jui Zong Ship Management Co Ltd (Jui Zong). OFAC also sanctioned Hong Kong-based Jui Cheng Shipping Company Limited and added Shang Yuan Bao, a ship, to its SDN List.