The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two North Korean entities involved in illegal exploitation of North Korea labor to generate money overseas, Treasury said in a Jan. 14 press release. Treasury said the two North Korean companies -- North Korea-based Namgang Trading Corporation (NTC) and China-based Beijing Sukbakso -- evade United Nations Security Council resolutions by sending North Korean laborers abroad. All UN member states were required to expel North Korean laborers in December, the press release said. NTC “maintained” laborers in “multiple” countries, including Russia, Nigeria and throughout the Middle East. Sukbakso, a lodging facility, handles portions of the travel and logistics for NTC personnel working overseas, Treasury said.
Russia export controls and sanctions
The use of export controls and sanctions on Russia has surged since the country's invasion of Crimea in 2014, and especially its invasion of Ukraine in in February 2022. Similar export controls and sanctions have been imposed by U.S. allies, including the EU, U.K. and Japan. The following is a listing of recent articles in Export Compliance Daily on export controls and sanctions imposed on Russia:
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began an interagency review of a final rule that would amend the country groups for Russia and Yemen under the Export Administration Regulations. OIRA received the Commerce Department rule Jan. 8.
The U.S. will impose further sanctions against Iran in response to its recent missile attacks on a U.S. military base in Iraq, President Donald Trump said Jan. 8. Trump called the measures “punishing economic sanctions,” which will “remain until Iran changes its behavior,” including abandoning its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Details of the sanctions were not immediately released.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 23-27 in case you missed them.
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls’ interim final rule (see 1912230052) to define activities that are not exports, re-exports or retransfers will significantly reduce regulatory and compliance burdens surrounding encrypted data, a law firm and export consulting firm said. In a long-awaited move, the rule will better facilitate international data storage subject to both the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Export Administration Regulations.
Along with sanctions related to Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline (see 1912190075), the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act includes a prohibition on Venezuela-related procurement actions and additional measures against Turkey, North Korea and Syria, according to a Dec. 27 post from Crowell & Moring.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 16-20 in case you missed them.
The State Department published an interim final rule that will revise the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to provide definitions for activities that are not exports, re-exports, retransfers or temporary imports, the agency said in a notice in the Federal Register. The activities include launching items into space, providing technical data to U.S. people within the U.S. or “within a single country abroad,” and moving defense items within the U.S.
U.S. companies and exporters have not told the Trump administration that sanctions on Venezuela are hurting their business, according to Elliott Abrams, the State Department’s special representative for Venezuela. As the U.S. continues one of its most active sanctions regimes (see 1911190028) against a country it says is marred by corruption and human rights abuses, companies are becoming more understanding of U.S. foreign policy goals, Abrams said.
In the Dec. 19-20 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted: