The Bureau of Industry and Security has drafted an interim final rule that could update or clarify how export controls apply to releases of technology for standards setting or development in standards organizations. The agency sent the rule for interagency review May 17. BIS last issued updates to these controls in 2022, when it expanded an authorization for the release of controlled technology for certain standards-setting activities, including when companies on the Entity List are participating in those bodies (see 2209080038).
A Virginia-based technology company said it received warning letters from both the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Office of Foreign Assets Control after disclosing possible Russia-related sanctions violations to both agencies last year.
U.S. export controls may not be the best way to counter China’s legacy semiconductor industry, especially because the EU and other allies aren’t likely to adopt similar restrictions, researchers said this month. The researchers said they expect the U.S. to turn more frequently to entity-based controls -- including through the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List -- and other national security tools to address risks relating to more mature-node chips.
The U.K. on May 17 corrected one entry under its sanctions regime for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and another under its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime. The changes update identifying information for Sylvestre Mudacumura, commander of the FDLR-FOCA armed rebel group in Congo, and Radulan Sahiron, who is wanted by the Philippines for terrorism offenses.
Syrian businessperson Issam Anbouba remains subject to EU sanctions after the EU General Court on May 15 sustained his listing based on criteria issued in 2023 but annulled the criteria issued in 2022, according to an unofficial translation.
The EU General Court on May 15 rejected the Russian Direct Investment Fund's (RDIF's) challenge to the bloc's prohibition on investing in projects financed by the fund.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on May 16 said it has "withdrawn" its sanctions regime on Burundi, and it's "no longer in force." The sanctions, initially issued in 2015 and last updated in July 2022, include designations for human rights abuses by those who obstructed "the search for a peacefull solution to the political situation in Burundi."
The U.K. on May 17 sanctioned people and companies for their ties to Russia and North Korea, including for helping both countries evade sanctions.
Australia last week sanctioned six entities that it said have ties to North Korea’s supply of weapons and military items to Russia. “Australia condemns, in the strongest possible terms, North Korea’s illegal export and Russia’s procurement and use of North Korean ballistic missiles, in support of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine,” the country said in a May 17 notice. The notice didn’t list the designated entities.
DOJ unsealed charges on May 16 against five people, including "three unidentified foreign nationals," who allegedly took part in schemes to plant information technology workers in positions at U.S. companies and "raise revenue for North Korea."