Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Nov. 23-27 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
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 Bureau of Industry and Security expects to roll out a more multilateral approach to export controls under the Joe Biden administration but does not expect any major changes to its China policies or Entity List decisions, a senior Commerce Department official said. The official pointed to the strong bipartisan support among lawmakers for Chinese sanctions and export controls, which likely will continue under a new administration. “I don't see that going away. I think the Hill is engaged. I think at least from what President-elect Biden has announced with his Cabinet, these are folks who are familiar with the national security issues,” the official, who declined to be named in order to speak candidly about BIS, said in an interview last week. “So I don't expect a lot of substantive change.”
The State Department announced penalties on foreign entities for illegal transfers under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act. The entities transferred items subject to multilateral control lists that contribute to weapons proliferation or missile production, the agency said in a notice released Nov. 24. The entities are: China-based Chengdu Best New Materials Co. Ltd. and Zibo Elim Trade Co.; and Russia-based Aviazapchast, Joint Stock Company Elecon and the Nilco Group. The companies and their subsidiaries are barred from purchasing items controlled on the U.S. Munitions List and by the Arms Export Control Act. The State Department will also suspend any current export licenses used by the companies and bar them from receiving new export licenses for any goods subject to the Export Administration Regulations. Government agencies are barred from entering into procurement contracts with them. The measures took effect Nov. 6.
The Commerce Department drafted a rule that would restrict U.S. exports to 89 Chinese and 28 Russian companies with military ties, Reuters reported Nov. 22. The rule, which includes several Chinese aerospace companies such as the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd. (COMAC) and the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), would build off an April rule that increased license requirements for exports to military end-users and for end-uses in China, Russia and Venezuela, (see 2004270027). The rule contains a list that identifies Chinese and Russian companies that the U.S. considers military end-users, the report said, which require licenses to buy a range of U.S. goods and technologies. If the rule is issued, those licenses will be “more likely to be denied than granted,” Reuters said.
Russia announced sanctions on 25 United Kingdom officials in retaliation for U.K. sanctions against Russia earlier this year (see 2007060025). “We once again call on the British leadership to abandon an unfounded confrontational line with regard to our country,” Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Nov. 21, according to an unofficial translation. “Any unfriendly steps will not be left without an inevitable proportionate response.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two entities involved in the “exportation of forced labor” from North Korea, according to a Nov. 19 press release. The designations target Mokran LLC, a Russian construction company, and Korea Cholsan General Trading Corporation, a North Korean company operating in Russia, for exporting forced labor to generate revenue for the North Korean government, OFAC said.
Russia will impose retaliatory sanctions against Germany and France for European Union designations of six Russian officials and one Russian entity in October, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Nov. 12. The ministry said it will target senior officials in Germany's and France's “executive offices” who helped lead the EU’s effort to sanction Russia for the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny (see 2010080013 and 2010150008).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Oct. 26-30 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The former president of a Maryland transportation company was sentenced to four years in prison for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after bribing an official at Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation, the Justice Department said Oct. 28. Mark Lambert, who headed Transportation Logistics International, which provided transportation services for nuclear materials, pleaded guilty to the charges last year (see 1911250025). Lambert was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.
The Bureau of Industry and Security revised its license review policy for items controlled for national security reasons and destined for China, Venezuela and Russia (see 2010230007), the agency said in a final rule released Oct. 28. The rule, which takes effect Oct. 29, said BIS and other “reviewing agencies” will determine whether those exports will make a “material contribution” to the weapons systems of the countries before approving the shipments.