The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a Texas hardware and software company more than $180,000 for illegally exporting goods, technology and services that were intended to be used in Iran, OFAC said Sept. 9. The company, NewTek, which develops and supplies live production and 3D animation hardware and software systems, voluntarily self-disclosed its 52 violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations. OFAC said the company didn’t have an export control or sanctions compliance program.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation removed 28 entries from its consolidated Iraq sanctions list in a Sept. 9 notice, no longer subjecting them to an asset freeze. All 28 listings are Iraqi state-run entities. The entries are:
A new European Union export control framework centered around tightening limits on trade in dual-use items and enhancing the bloc's ability to protect human rights and support secure strategic item supply chains took effect Sept. 9, the EU said. The regulation increases the level of consultations and reporting between EU member states and the European Commission, which will in turn aid the development of an EU electronic licensing system that has already been piloted in four member states, the EC said.
The U.S.-European Union Trade and Technology Council (see 2107140022) will hold its first meeting Sept. 29 in Pittsburgh, and will feature 10 working groups on technology issues, the White House said Sept. 9. Among the topics that will be discussed are export controls, investment screening, “global trade challenges” and technology standards cooperation.
The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked export privileges for seven people for illegally exporting firearms and other defense goods without licenses, according to enforcement orders released this week.
The Treasury Department should maintain and potentially expand sanctions on the Taliban and third-party entities that support them as the group takes over the Afghan government, Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote in a recent letter to Secretary Janet Yellen. “We urge you and the rest of the Biden Administration to maintain a very healthy dose of skepticism about what the Taliban’s intentions and abilities are,” said the letter, signed by more than 15 members, including Michael McCaul of Texas, the committee’s top Republican. “We must maintain what leverage this administration has left to not only secure the evacuation of our citizens, allies, and Afghan partners from the clutches of a terrorist group, but to prevent another atrocity on American shores like the tragic attacks on 9/11.” The members added that “it is imperative that no sanctions against the Taliban are lifted to ensure our national security and the security of our citizens and partners is protected.”
U.S. penalties for illegal exports to China have risen dramatically this year compared with last, with about $6 million in fines handed out already, said Jeremy Pelter, the acting undersecretary for the Bureau of Industry and Security. Pelter told a bipartisan congressional commission this week that the agency during the 2021 fiscal year has issued about $1.86 million in criminal fines and more than $4 million in civil fines, skyrocketing past 2020’s penalties, which totaled about $60,000.
Turkey, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Ukraine have aligned themselves with the European Union's sanctions regime on Guinea-Bissau, the European Council said in a Sept. 8 news release. On Aug. 5, the EC dropped two individuals, Navy Cmdr. Bion Na Tchongo and Capt. Paulo Sunsai, from the sanctions regime. Both listings originally were made in 2012 (see 2108100012). The aligning countries will "ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision," the EC said.
President Joe Biden extended for one year a national emergency that authorizes sanctions against “foreign powers” that try to influence or undermine U.S. elections, the White House said Sept. 7. Although Biden said there is “no evidence” of a foreign power successfully changing the vote tabulations or outcome of a U.S. election, the potential through a history of such attempts and increasingly sophisticated communications technology “continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy” of the U.S. The emergency will be extended through Sept. 12, 2022.
President Joe Biden renewed Cuban trade sanctions authorized under the Trading With the Enemy Act for one year, until Sept. 14, 2022, a Sept. 7 White House memorandum said. The act authorizes sanctions under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations.