Iran recently resumed fuel exports to Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover, Reuters reported Aug. 23. The new Afghan government reportedly asked Iran to resume the fuel shipments because it feels it can openly buy sanctioned Iranian oil now that the U.S. military has withdrawn from the region. In response, Iran lifted a ban on fuel exports to Afghanistan that had been in place since Aug. 6, which stemmed from “concerns about the safety of trading in the country,” the report said. The Taliban also reportedly agreed to cut tariffs on imports of fuel from Iran and other neighboring countries.
Hong Viet Production Trading Service Joint Stock Co. and Montrose Consulting Co., both based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, saw their import and exporting rights suspended by the HCM City Customs Department following the late payment of taxes, state-run publication CustomsNews said Aug. 25. The local tax department is requesting around $170,000 from Hong Viet Production and $11,000 from Montrose Consulting, leading to the suspension of customs clearance procedures for the companies. “Many companies paid taxes after the local department enforced sanctions,” CustomsNews said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control extended a general license that authorizes U.S. academic institutions to exports certain “online educational services” and software to Iran, the agency said Aug. 24. General License M-1, which replaces General License M (see 2010290043), was extended through 12:01 a.m. EDT Sept. 1, 2022. The original license was scheduled to expire Sept. 1, 2021.
A proposal to use a carbon border adjustment tax as a pay-for in legislation Congress hopes to pass this fall faces many obstacles, both political and technical. Politically, it must get support from all 50 Democrats in the Senate, including Sen. Joe Manchin, whose home state of West Virginia exports about a third of its coal; in some recent years, coal was about half of all exports from the state.
Ukraine implemented sanctions against 13 individuals and 22 entities in a new wave of restrictive measures, made via four decrees from President Volodymyr Zelensky. Among those sanctioned are judges in occupied territory who illegally try Ukrainian citizens, members of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, and mass media registered in occupied Crimea and in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Lugansk, Zelensky announced, according to an unofficial translation. Several of those sanctioned also have been designated by the U.S. They include Andriy Derkach, a Ukrainian member of parliament, and Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk People's Republic.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 24 sanctioned three Paraguayan people and five companies for corruption. The sanctions target Kassem Mohamad Hijazi for controlling a money laundering organization and Khalil Ahmad Hijazi and Liz Paola Doldan Gonzalez for working with Kassem Mohamad Hijazi. OFAC also designated the companies Espana Informatica S.A., Mobile Zone International Import-Export S.R.L., Apolo Informatica S.A., Emprendimientos Inmobiliarios Misiones S.A., and Mundo Informatico Paraguay S.A.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi asked Japan to release $3 billion worth of Iranian funds that are frozen in Japan because of U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported Aug. 22. Raisi recently asked Japan’s foreign minister to release the funds, which were generated from gas export sales but are frozen due to expansive U.S. sanctions on Iran’s banking and energy sectors, the report said. “The improvement of ties with Japan is of great importance for Iran. ... Any delay in unblocking Iranian assets in Japanese banks is not justified,” Raisi told Japan’s foreign minister, according to the report.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Aug. 16-20 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Instead of imposing more sanctions against the Taliban, the U.S. will likely try to repurpose existing regimes to better target the group, sanctions and security experts said. The task, which the experts expect to be “very” challenging, will aim to update a U.S. sanctions program that was originally intended to target terrorists but will need to now target the Taliban-controlled Afghan government. The efforts should be coordinated with allies, the experts added, but could be slowed by the delayed nominations of two senior Treasury Department sanctions officials, who have not yet cleared the Senate.
Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, introduced a bill that would require the executive branch to prohibit controlled exports to any country that has acted with "gross negligence with respect to a chemical or biological program," and that gross negligence could come from the government itself, a state-owned enterprise, or a company with "significant material support" from that country's govenrment.