A recently released Norwegian Refugee Council report, "Life and Death: NGO access to financial services in Afghanistan," focusing on how to transfer humanitarian funds into and around Afghanistan, says overcompliance with financial sanctions hampers access to humanitarian aid. It says that as a result, payment systems, including the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication and StoneX, have been made widely unavailable. The report recommended sanctions guidance be harmonized across international regulators and include clear guidance on the scope of the sanctions. Governments also should prioritize adopting the U.N.'s humanitarian exception into domestic legislation, the report said.
The Biden administration’s closed briefing to lawmakers on Feb. 3 only underlined the need for strong U.S. sanctions against Russia, several senators said. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said administration officials gave a “factual assessment” of the dire situation at the Ukrainian border, which could soon see a Russian military invasion. “It's really hard to listen to all that and not conclude that we need to do more,” Coons told reporters on Capitol Hill. “Everything should be on the table in terms of sanctions.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Feb. 3 sanctioned World Human Care, a non-governmental organization created by Indonesia-based terrorist group Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia. OFAC said the group provides financial support for MMI “extremists” in Syria “under the guise of humanitarian aid.”
The U.S. will penalize China if it tries to help Russia evade impending U.S. export controls that would be imposed if President Vladimir Putin invades Ukraine, the State Department said. Those measures would be coordinated with allies, spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Feb. 3.
Crowell & Moring has seen “mixed results” and some longer response times from the Bureau of Industry and Security for license applications captured by the agency’s military end-use and end-user rule, said Brian McGrath, a trade lawyer with the firm. But overall, McGrath said the agency has been helpful when responding to exporter questions about the rule, which imposed more due-diligence requirements on shipments that could be sent to military end users or used for military end uses in certain countries (see 2102190042).
The Census Bureau won't follow through with a rule to eliminate some export reporting requirements for shipments to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (see 2009160033 and 2112140052), saying it couldn’t find an alternative data source to replace the information that would no longer have been submitted by exporters. The decision, released Feb. 3, came after months of both interagency and public discussions, including heavy lobbying from parts of the U.S. shipping industry, which argued the requirements were costly, burdensome and unfair.
Turkey recently granted its agriculture ministry the authority to restrict exports of 20 agricultural products in an effort to lower domestic food inflation, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service said in a Jan. 28 report. As of the report, USDA said the ministry hasn’t yet limited the exports but could decide to impose the restrictions in the future, “depending on local market conditions.” The authority, which is valid through Dec. 31, could apply to potatoes, tomatoes, onions, garlic, lemons, various meats, eggs and other foods.
The United Kingdom took a series of sanctions actions on Feb. 2, delisting one from its Iran (Human Rights) sanctions regime and amending an entry on the Venezuela and Libya sanctions lists. In one notice, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation took Mohammad Hejazi, former head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Sarollah Corps in Tehran, off its Iranian sanctions list. In two other notices, OFSI amended the entries of Elvis Eduardo Amoroso, under the Venezuela sanctions regime, and Saadi Qadhafi, under the Libya sanctions regime.
The State Department’s Defense Trade Advisory Group is accepting membership applications from subject matter experts in the U.S. defense industry, the agency said in a notice. Members serve a consecutive two-year term and submit recommendations to improve the agency’s export control regime. Applications must be emailed or postmarked by Feb. 25.
Two senators this week asked the Commerce Department to say whether it opposes stronger export controls against SMIC, China’s top chipmaker, as has been reported in the media, and to explain why.