The Bureau of Industry and Security has completed a round of interagency review for a final rule that would make certain changes to U.S. export controls based on recent decisions made at the multilateral Australia Group. BIS sent the rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Nov. 22 (see 2411250004), and the review was completed Dec. 12.
New guidance published by the EU last week outlines steps people and companies should take to make sure their dual-use goods and technology aren’t being sent to Russia, including red flags they should be monitoring as part of their compliance programs. It also offers insight into how the European Commission interprets violations of the bloc’s anti-circumvention laws, with a specific focus on minimum due diligence expectations for businesses and banks.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined C.H. Robinson, one of the world’s largest logistics firms, more than $250,000 after OFAC said its non-U.S. subsidiaries violated sanctions against Iran and Cuba. The five subsidiaries allegedly provided freight brokerage or transportation services for 82 shipments to or from Iran or involving Iranian or Cuban goods, while one of the companies also did business with sanctioned Iranian airline Mahan Air.
Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., introduced a bill Dec. 10 that would codify President Joe Biden’s February executive order allowing the U.S. to sanction those who undermine peace, security and stability in the West Bank (see 2402010053).
In one of his last moves as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, retiring Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., introduced a wide-ranging China bill Dec. 11 that contains several sanctions, foreign investment and trade provisions.
President Joe Biden renewed a national emergency that authorizes certain sanctions against human rights abuses and corruption, the White House said Dec. 12. The “prevalence” of human rights violations and corruption continues to threaten U.S. security, the White House said. The emergency was extended for one year beyond Dec. 20.
EU ambassadors agreed to another round of Russia sanctions this week, including more designations of Russian entities and companies in third countries indirectly contributing to Russia’s “military and technological enhancement through the circumvention of export restrictions,” the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU said in a Dec. 11 post on X.
China’s Foreign Ministry this week criticized Canada’s recent sanctions against Chinese officials for human rights violations (see 2412110016), calling the announcement an “ugly, hypocritical political stunt done by some Canadian political figures under the pretext of human rights to serve an unspeakable agenda and please the U.S.”
The U.K. published its latest export control licensing data this week, detailing the number of licenses it approved, rejected, revoked and took actions for between April 1 and June 30. The data also includes information on the number of standard and open export licenses it issued during that time frame, the value of the goods shipped under those licenses, information on end-user destinations and more.
The multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement this month posted a summary of export control changes made during the group’s Dec. 4-5 plenary meeting in Austria, covering editorial changes, clarifications and updated control parameters for various categories under its list of dual-use goods and technologies. Wassenaar’s plenary chair, held this year by Italy, said member states adopted new controls involving suborbital spacecraft and their components as well as technologies used to make metal alloy powders for “high-performance” 3D printing of dual-use technologies. The group also agreed to clarify controls over systems for submersible vehicles, directed energy weapons, epitaxy-covered substrates for semiconductor manufacturing and more.