The Office of Foreign Assets Control has released its Quarterly Report of Licensing Activities pursuant to Section 906(b) of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (TSRA), covering activities from April through June 2010. Under the TSRA procedures, OFAC processes license applications requesting authorization to export agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices to Iran and Sudan under the one-year specific licensing regime set forth in Section 906. From April-June 2010, OFAC issued 161 licenses; 144 involved products for Iran and 17 for Sudan. The complete report is available here.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is publishing the name of an individual, Roy Ricks of the United Kingdom, whose property and interests in property have been unblocked pursuant to Executive Order 13315, “Blocking Property of the Former Iraqi Regime, Its Senior Officials and Their Family Members, and Taking Certain Other Actions,” as amended by Executive Order 13350. The removal of Ricks from the SDN List is effective as of May 26, 2011.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has updated its Specially Designated Nationals list to include seven additional individuals in Colombia, Mexico, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kenya pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.
The Treasury Department has issued its Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules, which is required under Executive Order 135361 and is part of the President’s plan to create a “21st-century regulatory system.” Treasury's plan includes the review of regulations related to CBP's courtesy notices of liquidation and acceptance of duties and fees, economic sanctions, certain alcohol labeling, etc.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a final rule, effective June 1, 2011, which removes from the Code of Federal Regulations the Taliban (Afghanistan) Sanctions Regulations, as a result of the termination of the national emergency and revocation of the Executive Order (EO) on which the regulations were based. Sanctions against the Taliban pursuant to another EO and its corresponding Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations remain in place.
Various U.S. government agencies are seeking comments on the following information collections for which they have requested or intend to request Office of Management and Budget approval or extension of approval (see notices for specific details):
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is announcing a 60-day comment period for the proposed revision of its collection of information concerning OFAC's Cuban Remittance Affidavit, which it plans to submit to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. OFAC states that the Cuban Remittance Affidavit is currently being revised to implement policy changes designed to enhance the free flow of information in Cuba, among other things. Comments are due by July 26, 2011.
The State Department has designated Caucasus Emirate aka Imarat Kavkaz aka Imirat Kavkaz aka Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, as amended. The Office of Foreign Assets Control has also updated its Specially Designated Nationals list to include these designations.
The State Department has imposed sanctions on seven companies under the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) of 1996, as amended by the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act (CISADA) of 2010, for their refined petroleum-related activities in support of Iran's energy sector.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule, effective May 20, 2011, which revises the Export Administration Regulations to implement the changes made to the Wassenaar Arrangement's1 List of Dual Use Goods and Technologies maintained and agreed to by governments participating in the Wassenaar Arrangement’s December 2010 Plenary Meeting.