The Census Bureau is hoping to publish a notice seeking public comments on its long-awaited routed export control rule before the upcoming presidential election, a Commerce Department official said this week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is looking to expand its validated end-user program, which it hopes will allow more U.S. exporters to sell products to credible foreign customers without having to first apply for a license, said Thea Kendler, the agency’s assistant secretary for export administration.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week published an updated freight forwarder guidance, outlining forwarders’ compliance responsibilities, the red flags they should be monitoring and a set of best practices they should follow when they’re involved in an export. The agency also issued a new version of its “Don’t Let This Happen to You” document, which includes new summaries and case examples of recent export control investigations.
The U.K. on March 27 amended Svetlana Alexandrovna Krivonogikh's listing under the Russia sanctions regime. Krivonogikh is a shareholder of Russian bank Bank Rossiya, which is a "significant stakeholder in National Media Group," which controls major TV stations in Russia that "promote the destabilisation of Ukraine." Her entry was amended to provide a new national identification number.
The U.K. High Court of Justice on March 27 ruled that VTB Commodites, the commodities wing of sanctioned bank VTB Bank, doesn't have "any right of redemption" in escrow payments in a dispute over the ownership of vacuum gas oil (VGO) cargo.
Australia’s Parliament on March 27 passed the Defence Trade Controls Amendment Act and Safeguarding Australia’s Military Secrets Act, two key pieces of legislation that are expected to better harmonize its defense trade regulations with the U.S. and the U.K. as part of the AUKUS partnership. The laws will help in “streamlining trade and collaboration with our AUKUS partners,” eliminate red tape on defense trade with both countries and bolster enforcement of illegal defense trade and information sharing, the country’s defense agency said.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia earlier this month granted the U.S. motion for forfeiture of about $17 million from Iraqi airline Al-Naser Airlines, representing the amount of laundered payments involved in the company's scheme to evade export controls and sanctions by "illicitly procuring U.S.-origin aircraft for the benefit of an Iranian airline [Mahan Air]." The court said that the government "fulfilled its notice obligations" prior to a forfeiture and that the complaint against the airline's funds contains verified allegations that "establish the facts necessary to support a civil forfeiture" (U.S. v. $3,435,935 of Funds From Al-Naser Airlines, D.D.C. # 15-01687).
U.S. companies interested in divesting Russian assets that are subject to the Export Administration Regulations may need to obtain multiple licenses from the U.S. government, a Commerce Department official said March 28.
Beijing this week urged the Netherlands to continue allowing its companies to service and repair semiconductor equipment in China, saying Dutch companies should fulfill their “contractual obligations” with their Chinese customers.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has no immediate plans to try to require companies to monitor their sensitive chip-related exports through location tracking or other hardware, BIS officials said this week, suggesting that the technology needs to be studied more.