The Office of Foreign Assets Control published in the Federal Register the texts of four previously issued Venezuela-related General Licenses. GLs 7, 7A, 7B, and 7C outline authorizations for certain transactions with PDV Holding and Citgo Holding for 18-month periods (see 2110010034).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Oct. 11-15 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Treasury Department presented the results of its monthslong sanctions review (see 2107200024, 2107060012 and 2106220037) to the Senate Banking Committee Oct. 19, detailing how it hopes to better coordinate designations with trading partners and establish more modern, effective sanctions regimes. Although some senators applauded the agency’s commitment toward revising its sanctions approach, others questioned Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo about what they said have been several U.S. sanctions failings, including the administration's policies toward Nord Stream 2 and China’s reported purchases of Iranian oil.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will issue new export controls on certain cybersecurity items and create a new license exception for those exports, according to an interim final rule. The rule will establish more restrictions on items that can be used for “malicious cyber activities” by imposing a license requirement for shipments to certain countries, BIS said. The changes, which take effect Jan. 19, will align U.S. cybersecurity restrictions with controls previously agreed to at the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement. BIS is also seeking public comments on the changes by Dec. 6.
The European Union extended its sanctions regime against ISIL/Da'esh and al-Qaida along with individuals and entities associated with the terrorist organization for another 12 months, until Oct. 31, 2022, the European Council said. The sanctions regime currently subjects six individuals to a travel ban and an asset freeze and stands as a supplement to the United Nations Security Council sanctions.
Weak U.S. export controls and licensing policies may have contributed to China's reported development of nuclear-capable hypersonic missiles, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Oct. 18. McCaul said he warned the Commerce Department to place stricter controls on China’s Phytium Technologies -- a company “contributing” to the country’s hypersonic weapons program -- by applying the foreign direct product rule (see 2104150040).
The Bureau of Industry and Security completed interagency review of an interim final rule that could make changes to the Commerce Control List for certain cybersecurity items. The rule, received by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in September (see 2109200005) and completed Oct. 14, would build upon a proposed rule published by BIS in 2015 that was intended to gather feedback on new Wassenaar Arrangement controls on some cybersecurity items.
RANCHO MIRAGE, California -- CBP is being pushed to move faster on its electronic export manifest after delays have pushed back its full release to at least next year, said Jim Swanson, director of the agency’s Cargo and Security Controls Division. He pointed to a “variety of reasons” CBP hasn’t yet been able to mandate the use of EEM, including “limited participation” in the pilot program. “I can tell you right now I have a lot of internal pressure from various parts of the government asking us why don't we have this up and running,” Swanson said Oct. 15 during the Western Cargo Conference.
RANCHO MIRAGE, California -- The Commerce Department and CBP will soon deploy a new feature in the Automated Export System to automatically warn filers if they are exporting a controlled item without a license, a BIS official said. The agencies hope to launch the feature -- which should help exporters, freight forwarders and carriers better conduct due diligence -- in the next few months, said Richard Sylvestri, a senior export administration analyst in the Bureau of Industry and Security's Western Regional Office.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation published its 2020-21 annual review, discussing changes to U.K. sanctions made following the nation's departure from the European Union. Key statistics include that 34 autonomous U.K. sanctions regimes entered into force under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018; 278 new designated individuals were added to the consolidated sanctions list during fiscal year 2020-21; 48 individuals and entities were delisted during the period of review; and 43 new specific licenses were issued by OFSI. Also, £12.2 billion (equivalent to nearly $16.8 billion) in frozen funds were reported to be held by U.K. firms as of September 2020.