The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week deleted four entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List and updated six others. The entries are linked to either Russia or Myanmar. One entry, Russia-based Joint Stock Company Star, had been listed on the SDN List under two separate sanctions authorities, and the agency's move this week merged those two listings together, an OFAC spokesperson said Sept. 27. The agency didn't provide more information on why it deleted the other entries.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two people and five entities based in Iran, China, Hong Kong, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates for their involvement in procuring sensitive parts for Iran unmanned aerial vehicle program. OFAC said the network has specifically facilitated shipments and financial transactions for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization’s procurement of servomotors, a “critical component” used in Iran’s Shahed-series UAVs. The agency said Iran has been supplying the Shahed-136 UAVs to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
The Bureau of Industry and Security recently completed rounds of interagency reviews for two final rules that could align its controls with multilateral export control bodies. The first, completed Sept. 20, would align its regulations with certain changes made by the multilateral Australia Group. The second, completed Sept. 26, would align the agency's export controls with changes recently made by the multilateral Missile Technology Control Regime. The Australia Group rule (see 2308280013) and the MTCR rule were both sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Aug. 25 (see 2308280014).
LONDON -- Gyorgy Molnar, head of the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement secretariat, said he is “cautiously optimistic” the regime will be able to agree to more export control proposals this year as opposed to the prior year. Molnar didn’t specifically name Russia but said a “number” of proposals last year “were blocked by one participating state.”
LONDON -- The U.K. has seen a spike in export license refusals for shipments destined to China and expects that trend to continue, said Rosemary Pratt, director of the U.K.’s Export Control Joint Unit. She also said her agency is undergoing several export control reform initiatives that it hopes see progress on in the coming year, including an effort to assess the effectiveness of its military end-use (MEU) controls and evaluate and control emerging technologies.
Dealmakers are hoping for more certainty when the Treasury Department finalizes regulations for its August executive order on outbound investment restrictions, which may force companies to make difficult investment decisions without assurances that their deals won’t be later unwound.
Trade attorney Julia Kuelzow has moved from Kelley Drye, where she worked as an associate, to Fenwick & West, where she now works as a trade and national security associate, per a notice at the Court of International Trade. At Fenwick, Kuelzow's practice centers on export controls and sanctions, shifting from her trade remedies work at Kelley Drye. Prior to working at Kelley Drye, Kuelzow served as a law clerk at CIT and as a junior dispute settlement lawyer at the World Trade Organization, according to her LinkedIn page.
A group of European countries not in the EU aligned with a recent sanctions move from the European Council under its restrictions list pertaining to those who commit serious human rights abuses. On Sept. 8, the council added six individuals to this list. The countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway also imposed the decision.
China and the EU held the "10th EU-China High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue" on Sept. 25, discussing the effect of Russia's war in Ukraine on global economics, food and energy security. Also discussed were "EU concerns on access to the Chinese market," prospects for rebalancing the EU-China trade relationship "on the basis of transparency," and predictability and reciprocity, the European Commission said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 10 people, nine of which are “Sinaloa Cartel affiliates and fugitives” responsible for “fentanyl and other illicit drug trafficking,” the Treasury Department said in a Sept. 26 news release. Those nine people are Jorge Humberto Figueroa Benitez, Leobardo Garcia Corrales, Martin Garcia Corrales, Liborio Nunez Aguirre, Samuel Leon Alvarado, Carlos Mario Limon Vazquez, Jimenez Castro, Dominguez Hernandez, and Vibanco Garcia. The tenth sanctioned person is Jobanis de Jesus Avila Villadiego, a Colombian national and leader of the Clan del Golfo, which supplies cocaine to major drug trafficking organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel.