South African imports of wheat and wheat products are expected to drop by 20% next marketing year, which begins Oct. 1, due to an increase in domestic production, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service reported Sept. 21. The country will likely import 1.6 million tons of wheat next marketing year, down from the “expected” 2 million tons in the current marketing year. Favorable growing conditions are expected to improve the domestic production to 2 million tons. The drop in imports could affect wheat shipments from Poland, Russia, Germany and Lithuania, all of which have been the “major exporters” of wheat to South Africa this year. The U.S. has been the six-largest exporter of wheat to South Africa this marketing year (Oct. 1, 2019, through Sept. 30, 2020), at 58,075 tons.
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 Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 15 people and entities for supporting Russian government operative Yevgeniy Prigozhin and the Russian Federal Security Service, OFAC said Sept. 23. The designations are designed to increase pressure on Prigozhin, who runs and finances the Internet Research Agency, a Russian troll farm that was sanctioned by OFAC in 2018.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began a review of a final rule from the Bureau of Industry and Security related to its “national security license application review policy” for China, Russia and Venezuela. OIRA received the rule Sept. 17.
Two Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats urged the Treasury Department to impose updated Russia Magnitsky Act sanctions, saying the administration failed to announce a new round of designations last year. In a Sept. 9 letter, Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Ben Cardin of Maryland said new sanctions are overdue. “[O]ur expectation has been that [the Office of Foreign Assets Control] announces annual designations by the close of each calendar year,” the senators said. “[W]e still do not have the 2019 round of Russia Magnitsky designations from the Administration. To this effect, we urge the release of a robust and credible list of designations immediately.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 10 designated a member of the Ukrainian parliament and three employees of the sanctioned Internet Research Agency for helping Russia interfere in U.S. elections. The sanctions target Andrii Derkach, a parliament member said to be a Russian agent who helped create “false and unsubstantiated narratives” about U.S. officials ahead of the 2020 presidential election, OFAC said. The agency also sanctioned IRA employees and Russian nationals Artem Lifshits, Anton Andreyev and Darya Aslanova, who helped support IRA cryptocurrency accounts.
Two House members said there is bipartisan support for increased sanctions against Belarus, urging the U.S. to quickly designate Belarusian officials for the unfair elections held earlier this month. But despite the consensus, the U.S. has been too slow to impose designations, experts said. “They're doing too little, and they're moving too slowly,” Michael Carpenter, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former foreign policy adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, said during an Aug. 27 event hosted by the think tank. “The West needs to demonstrate to all those mid-ranking people in the [government] that if you engage in repression, you're going to be sanctioned.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 60 entities to the Entity List, including 24 entities for helping the Chinese military build artificial islands in the South China Sea. BIS also designated entities in France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates for a range of activities, including illegal exports to Iran, submitting false information to BIS, contributing to Russian biological weapons programs and more. BIS also revised five existing entries under Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Iran and the UAE.
The Bureau of Industry and Security plans to add 60 entities to the Entity List, including 24 entities for helping the Chinese military build artificial islands in the South China Sea. BIS will also designate entities in France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates for a range of activities, including illegal exports to Iran, submitting false information to BIS, contributing to Russian biological weapons programs and more.
Chinese and Russian officials want to expand trade and supply chain cooperation, with both sides emphasizing trade in agricultural goods, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Aug. 25, according to an unofficial translation of a news release. China wants to “deepen cooperation” with Russia in the “entire soybean industry chain,” and Russia said it is “willing to further expand exports of agricultural products to China,” the notice said. The countries also said they want to establish a “Sino-Russian soybean industry alliance.”
Curtiss-Wright, a U.S. manufacturer, may have violated U.S. sanctions on Russia when it continued to do business with two customers after they were acquired by a sanctioned entity, the company said in an Aug. 19 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The company said the two customers, “unbeknown” to Curtiss-Wright, were acquired in 2019 by an entity subject to OFAC’s Ukraine-related sanctions. “Change of ownership resulted in beneficial ownership sanctions now capturing our two long-time customers,” the company said.