The House Foreign Affairs Committee unveiled legislation Sept. 10 that would consolidate the State Department’s sanctions activities into a new Sanctions Policy Bureau.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a new general license this week to authorize certain transactions with Belavia Belarusian Airlines, the state-owned flagship carrier of Belarus, which was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2023 (see 2308090025). General License No. 11 authorizes certain transactions with the airline -- and any entity it owns by 50% or more -- that would normally be prohibited by the Belarus Sanctions Regulations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned more than 30 people, entities and vessels tied to the Iranian-backed Houthis. OFAC said the designations target companies and key Houthi "operatives" in Yemen, China, the United Arab Emirates and the Marshall Islands who are helping to fundraise, smuggle and procure weapons for the Houthis.
Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., announced Sept. 11 that they are introducing a bill to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism until it returns more than 19,000 children it abducted during its invasion of Ukraine.
Although Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. have taken steps to ease defense trade restrictions, companies are still being cautious because progress around AUKUS appears to have stalled, researchers and U.K. lawmakers said this week. They also said it’s still too early for the three nations to invite other countries to join, adding that they need to first prove that the concept works among themselves.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 32 entities to the Entity List for either circumventing export controls on China, supplying controlled items to Russia, evading BIS end-use checks or other activities that BIS said breached U.S. export rules. The additions include 23 entities located in China, along with others based in India, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, the agency said in a final rule released and effective Sept. 12. They will be subject to license requirements for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, and licenses will be reviewed under a presumption of denial or policy of denial.
Norway is launching a new export licensing system on Sept. 25 that it's expecting will improve the "user experience," the Norwegian Agency for Export Control and Sanctions said this week, according to an unofficial translation. The new system will feature new templates for licenses, the agency said, "and a decision letter with information will accompany each license." It also will make it "easier" for users to manage licenses for more than one company if they "represent multiple businesses and enterprises," allow users "access to new case types such as sanctions and sanctions reporting and general transfer licenses," and improve communication between the government and license applicants through SMS notifications.
The U.K.'s Export Control Joint Unit this week updated its guidance for its end-user and stockist undertaking form, which must be completed by the end user or stockist of the exported items if they're sent under a standard individual export license, a standard individual trade control license or a license to provide technical assistance. The U.K. specifically updated its definition for "ultimate end-user," which is the entity that "receives and uses the final items from the end-user or intermediate user," including if the items have been altered, processed, installed or incorporated into another item, or after they have been held in stock or interim storage. "The end-user and ultimate end-user can be different entities but are not always," the agency said.
The EU is planning new sanctions against Russia, Israel and human-smuggling networks, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in her state of the union speech this week.
The House of Representatives passed legislation Sept. 9 that could lead to greater scrutiny of dual-use exports to China.