Dutch officials continued to say the country isn't yet fully on board with recent U.S. chip export controls against China (see 2212080012), saying the Netherlands won’t succumb to American peer pressure. Prime Minister Mark Rutte, ahead of a Jan. 17 meeting with President Joe Biden, said the country is working methodically through potential new restrictions.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week updated its October chip controls on China to also extend the restrictions to Macau. BIS said Macau -- as a special administrative region of China -- presents a “risk of diversion” of export controlled items and should be subject to the same license requirements introduced by BIS’ October rule, which was intended to restrict China’s ability to acquire advanced computing chips and manufacture advanced semiconductors (see 2210070049).
Robert Slack has joined Fenwick & West as a partner in its Washington, D.C.-based regulatory practice, the firm announced. Slack's practice focuses on economic sanctions, export controls and other trade compliance issues. He represents clients before the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, the State Department Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration, the firm said. He is a former partner in Kelley Drye's trade and national security practice.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week revoked the export privileges of three people for trying to illegally send items to China and Mexico.
The U.K. last week declined requests from Parliament to disclose more information about export control violations, saying it doesn’t believe the transparency will aid compliance or boost voluntary disclosures. The U.K. also said it’s bound by certain “confidentiality” requirements, including rules that limit the Department for International Trade’s Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) from releasing names of companies that have violated export restrictions.
The Bureau of Industry and Security finalized new export controls on four dual-use marine toxins after the restrictions were agreed to at the multilateral Australia Group (AG). BIS also announced other export control changes made by the AG, including revisions to clarify controls on certain “genetic elements and genetically modified organisms” and the “scope of the exclusion that applies” to certain medical isolators. The agency also updated the “nomenclature” of certain bacteria and fungi, and clarified the definition of “disinfected” as it applies to certain biological equipment. The changes take effect Jan. 17.
The European Union updated its dual-use export control list this week to align the bloc’s restrictions with decisions taken by “international non-proliferation regimes and export control arrangements” through December 2021. Among the changes are new controls on certain electronics, semiconductors and computers, including “Electronic Computer-Aided Design (ECAD) used in the design process of Gate-All-Around Field-Effect Transistor (GAAFET).” The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security similarly imposed new controls last year on certain ECAD software after the restrictions were agreed to at the 2021 Wassenaar Arrangement (see 2208120038).
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a 180-day temporary denial order Dec. 13 against three people and two companies for illegally sending controlled exports to Russia as part of a Moscow-led sanctions evasion scheme. Along with the denial order, DOJ indicted the three individuals, along with others, on charges related to the illegal exports, including money laundering, wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiring to defraud the U.S.
Export Compliance Daily is providing this recap of export control and sanctions enforcement over the past year to assist export compliance professionals, lawyers and others in staying up to date with current enforcement trends. This guide summarizes the most notable enforcement actions by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Department of Justice since Jan. 1, 2022.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Jan. 5 revoked the export privileges of three people after they tried to illegally export guns and ammunition.