Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
A top Treasury Department official this week called on U.S. companies and banks to bolster their trade compliance efforts, saying they need to do more to prevent their customers and counterparties from buying and shipping sensitive items for Russia’s military.
The EU General Court on May 29 dismissed a suit from Belarusian Airlines AAT challenging the validity of its 2021 sanctions designation.
The EU General Court on May 29 annulled the European Council's sanctions designation of Russian businessperson Farkhad Akhmedov, founder of Russian gas equipment supplier Tansley Trading and minority shareholder of Northgas. The court said that the council "made an error of assessment" in sanctioning Akhmedov "by considering that the applicant was a leading businessperson involved in economic sectors which provided a substantial source of revenue to" the Russian government.
The U.S. and a group of its allies recently urged Russia and North Korea to end their “unlawful” arms transfers that they said have helped Russia’s military attack Ukraine. The nations noted that they have recently sanctioned people and companies involved in those transfers (see 2405220013, 2405170015 and 2405160029), adding that they’re “gravely concerned by the deepening DPRK-Russia cooperation in flagrant violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.” The countries also urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. The statement was issued by the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the U.K. and the EU.
The Bureau of Industry and Security reached a $44,750 settlement with Airbus DS Government Solutions, a Texas-based satellite communications company, after BIS said the firm violated the Export Administration Regulations’ antiboycott provisions. The agency said Airbus DS-GS failed to report a boycott request to the U.S. government and certified to another business that its products didn’t come from Israel.
The State Department’s proposed rule exempting Australia and the U.K. from International Traffic in Arms Regulations under the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) security partnership is too restrictive and should be revised to remove barriers to defense trade among the three countries, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) told the agency last week.
Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., announced May 31 that she and three other House members have introduced a bill that would sanction Iranian judges, prosecutors and investigators for their ongoing persecution of peaceful protesters.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation last week updated the entries for Tatiana Vladimirovna Evtushenkova, director of Redline Capital UK, and Dmitry Vladimirovich Konov, former general director at OOO Sibur, under its Russia sanctions regime. The agency also corrected the entries of three people under its Somalia sanctions regime: al-Shabaab leaders Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir, Mohamed Mohamud Mire and Mohamed Omar Mohamed.
The Council of the European Union on May 31 added three entities and six people to its North Korea sanctions regime for "sanctions evasion activities" that could "generate funds for" the nation's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The entities are Hapjanggang Trading Corp., a subordinate to the North Korean Ministry of Rocket Industry; Korea Namgang Trading Corp., which expatriates North Korean workers to generate revenue for Pyongyang; and Eastern Stevedoring Co., which operates the terminals at the main container port of the Russian Vostochny Port. The EU also sanctioned Song Rim, Kim Chol Sok, Rim Yong Hyok, Kim Kyong Nam and An Se-Ho, who work for the North Korean government or North Korean companies, and Oleg Nikolaevich Kozhemyako, who played an "instrumental role" in the September 2023 visit of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to Russia.