Even before new sanctions and export controls targeting Russia take full effect, many companies are deciding that compliance and due diligence costs are not worth the potential profits of continued business dealings in Russia and Belarus, former U.S. export control and sanctions officials said, speaking at a Washington International Trade Association panel on March 10.
President Joe Biden issued an executive order March 11 banning exports of luxury goods headed to Russian residents, including luxury vehicles, jewelry, high-end alcohol, high-end watches, and high-end jewelry. A fact sheet said Russians import about $550 million a year worth of these goods.
Michelle Schulz, a former member of the President's Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration, rejoined the Braumiller Law Group as of counsel, the firm announced in an email. Schulz was one of the founders of the Braumiller Law Group, helping start the firm in 2003 when it was known as Braumiller Schulz. Schulz also served for a decade as a senior adviser to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's Industry Trade Advisory Committee for Aerospace. Her practice deals with export controls, including matters under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and Export Administration Regulations, along with Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases and Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. regulations, the firm said.
The U.K.'s Export Control Joint Unit published a General License temporarily permitting the provision of certain insurance and reinsurance services for aviation and space goods and aviation and space technology to Russian clients. The license took effect March 8, and anyone seeking to use the license must register via the U.K.'s SPIRE system within 30 days of their first use of the license, the ECJU said.
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, the agency said in a March 10 notice. Under the ITAR, defense exporters shipping certain goods worth more than $500,000 to a foreign armed service must notify the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls about certain political contributions or fees associated with the sale, the agency said. Comments are due May 9. The State Department last year saw an uptick in Part 130 violations (see 2109290056).
A Senate bill with bipartisan support could apply secondary sanctions on anyone transacting or transporting gold from Russia’s central bank holdings or selling gold in Russia. The Stop Russian Government and Oligarchs from Limiting Democracy Act, introduced this week, would look to close a “loophole” in U.S. sanctions that allows Russian oligarchs to launder money through gold, the sponsoring senators said March 8. The bill would authorize secondary sanctions to “deter the purchase of Russian gold and close this loophole that allows the Russian Federation to soften the financial impact of sanctions.”
A group of countries aligned with the EU's Feb. 21 decision to add two individuals and two entities to its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime, the European Council said. The countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia and Georgia aligned with the decision.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on 26 Russian individuals and seven entities connected with cyber attacks and election interference in the U.S. OFAC determined that the property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of the designated persons and entities are blocked.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on eight Russian individuals, six entities, one water vessel and one aircraft. OFAC determined that the property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of the designated persons and entities are blocked. The sanctions were pursuant to Executive Order 14024, which targets members of the Russian government, technology sector, and their families and businesses.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is preparing to issue new export control decisions involving emerging technologies agreed to at the 2021 Wassenaar Arrangement plenary. The interim final rule, sent for interagency review March 8, will harmonize the Commerce Control List with a portion of Wassenaar’s 2021 decisions for certain “recently developed or developing technologies,” BIS said. BIS will implement the remaining Wassenaar 2021 control decisions in a separate rule.