The EPA published a final rule June 27 setting new significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 21 chemical substances subject to Premanufacture Notices (PMNs). As a result of the SNURs, persons planning to manufacture, import or process any of the chemical substances for an activity designated as a significant new use by this rule are required to notify EPA at least 90 days in advance. Importers of chemicals subject to these SNURs will need to certify their compliance with the SNUR requirements, and exporters of these chemical substances will now become subject to export notification requirements. The final rule takes effect Aug. 26. The SNURs cover the following:
Export controls may not stop all illegal shipments, but that doesn’t mean the U.S. and others should not work to improve cooperation and coordination, experts agreed during a June 27 Brookings Institution panel.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
If the U.S. establishes an outbound investment screening mechanism, it could struggle to coordinate the measure with the EU and possibly other partners, experts said. Nargiza Salidjanova, director of the Rhodium Group’s China practice, said the proposal being considered by Congress may be too broad for the EU.
The U.S. this week announced a host of new sanctions targeting Russia’s defense industrial base, including export restrictions against entities helping Moscow evade U.S. export controls and new financial sanctions targeting state-owned companies. The sanctions target more than 100 entities and 50 people supporting Russia’s defense industry and add 36 entities to the Commerce Department’s Entity List, including six for supporting Russia’s military.
Sanctions and export controls attorney Susan Kovarovics, a former partner at Bryan Cave, has joined Akin Gump as an international trade partner in the Washington, D.C., office, the firm announced. Kovarovics' practice centers around compliance issues involving International Traffic in Arms Regulations, Export Administration Regulations, Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the firm said.
The European Commission has undertaken a study of the economic impact of EU sanctions, which the commission said is "insufficiently understood." The study, which seeks feedback by July 1, will "provide a review and critical evaluation of the existing research related to the topic of the study," create a detailed methodology for looking at the economic impact of the EU sanctions and test this methodology on various selected case studies to show its usefulness. The commission will look at the consequences of the sanctions for listed individuals and entities, third country economies under which listed individuals and entities are linked, EU economic operators' business choices, and trade and investments between the EU and third countries.
Alexander Abramov, co-founder of Russian steel company Evraz, filed a case at the Federal Court of Australia challenging his placement on Australia's Russia sanctions list, The Guardian reported this month. Abramov lives in Switzerland, has made an estimated $6 billion from the Russian steel industry and was sanctioned by Australia in April. Counsel for Abramov told The Guardian that the billionaire "doesn’t satisfy the definition of a person who should be on the sanctions list" since he does not have the "requisite influence" on the Russian regime to qualify as a sanctioned individual. Abramov does not have business in Australia, but he does reportedly own property in New Zealand.
The State Department is seeking public comments on an information collection related to Part 130 of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which deals with political contributions, fees and commissions relating to sales of defense articles and defense services. Under the ITAR, defense exporters shipping certain goods worth more than $500,000 to a foreign armed service, international organization or others must notify the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls about certain political contributions or fees associated with the sale, the agency said. Comments are due July 28. DDTC last year saw an uptick in Part 130 violations (see 2109290056).
The recently revised outbound investment screening bill, proposed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers this month (see 2206140048), makes it “more likely” that new investment-related export control procedures will become law, Sidley Austin said in an alert. The firm expects new outbound investment controls to be passed as part of the expansive, bipartisan China legislation, as part of a future bill or potentially as an executive order by the White House.