Switzerland this month added new entries to its Democratic Republic of Congo sanctions regime, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. The agency added eight people and modified nine entries. The sanctions took effect Dec. 20.
Prices of certain chips sold in China's black market have risen "by 500 times" since the U.S. announced new semiconductor-related export controls earlier this year, according to an unofficial translation of a Dec. 27 report by United Daily News in Taiwan. The report said "the demand for high-end chips in mainland China is hot, making local black market transactions hot" and "chip smuggling increasingly rampant."
The Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, bought arms from North Korea to use in its war in Ukraine, Reuters reported last week. The report came the same day the Commerce Department announced new, stricter license requirements for exports to the Wagner Group, which were designed to limit the company’s ability to buy weapons for the Russian government (see 2212210080).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control published two Russia-related general licenses in the Federal Register this week. The previously issued licenses, 8D and 40C, authorize certain transactions related to Russian energy and civil aviation safety.
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The 2023 government spending package (see 2212200025) includes language that could eventually lead to the establishment of a formal outbound investment review mechanism. The provision, included in explanatory statements covering funding for the Treasury and Commerce departments, could speed up the administration's efforts to create the regime, which has been proposed this year in legislation by lawmakers and publicly supported by senior administration officials.
The fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act includes several sanctions and export control related provisions, including measures that would require more sanctions reporting by the Biden administration, Morrison Foerster said in a recent client alert. One provision will require the president to submit a periodic report to Congress listing foreign people and entities knowingly participating in significant transactions involving Russian gold, while another will require the director of national intelligence to submit semiannual reports on the effects of U.S. sanctions against Russia. Another provision will require the DNI to study ways to provide “enhanced intelligence support” for export controls and foreign investment screening, the alert said.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is removing fenfluramine from schedule IV of the Controlled Substances Act, it said in a notice of the final rule in the Dec. 23 Federal Register. The DEA said the drug has no abuse potential. The removal eliminates “the regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions applicable to controlled substances, including those specific to schedule IV controlled substances, on persons who handle (manufacture, distribute, reverse distribute, dispense, engage in research, import, export, conduct instructional activities or chemical analysis with, or possess) or propose to handle fenfluramine,” the DEA said. The delisting is effective Dec. 23.
Companies should closely review the State Department's recently released compliance program guidelines to make sure their own programs are up to date, Hogan Lovells said in a December alert. The firm also said the guidelines, which outlined key elements of an effective compliance program (see 2212060015), give the defense industry, universities and others involved in activities controlled by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations “insight into the regulator’s compliance expectations.” Because the guidelines are similar to those issued by the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Office of Foreign Assets Control, “organizations should expand their policies and procedures to confirm that these elements are captured if they engage in ITAR regulated activities,” the law firm said.
Shippers mostly supported the Federal Maritime Commission’s proposal for demurrage and detention billing requirements (see 2210070079 and 2203250028), saying in comments this month the new invoice requirements will bring more transparency to the industry. But at least two carriers continued to lobby for revisions to the proposed requirements, saying they could lead to burdensome new rules and wouldn’t result in more efficient container pickups and returns.