The Food Safety and Inspection Service revised export requirements and plant lists for the following countries for Jan. 18-24:
Russia export controls and sanctions
The use of export controls and sanctions on Russia has surged since the country's invasion of Crimea in 2014, and especially its invasion of Ukraine in in February 2022. Similar export controls and sanctions have been imposed by U.S. allies, including the EU, U.K. and Japan. The following is a listing of recent articles in Export Compliance Daily on export controls and sanctions imposed on Russia:
Getting an international playing field that is fair to U.S. trade is the key for American jobs and companies, should be the top priority for the second Obama administration, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a new report. It said the U.S. market is largely open to imports, but many other countries continue to levy steep tariffs on U.S. exports, and foreign governments have erected other barriers against U.S. goods and services.
The following individuals have been added to OFAC's SDN List:
A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to 42 months in prison Jan. 17 for violations of the International Emergence Economic Powers Act, said the Department of Justice. Timothy Gormley failed to get Bureau of Industry and Security licenses for controlled items, and falsified documents to make it appear that he had obtained the required authorizations. According to DoJ, Gormley said he was swamped at work and too busy to go through the licensing process.
On Jan. 16 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The euro area saw an international trade in goods surplus of 13.7 billion euros ($18.3 billion) in November, compared with a 4.9 billion-euro surplus last November, Eurostat said Tuesday. The euro area encompasses Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland. The first estimate for the November 2012 extra-EU27 trade in goods balance, however, was a 1.7-billion euro deficit, compared with about a 9 billion-euro deficit in November 2011, Eurostat said. The EU27 includes Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the U.K. From January to October 2012, the EU27 deficit for energy rose from 319.5 billion euros last year to 347 billion this year, the report said. EU27 exports to most of its major partners grew this year except for India and Switzerland, it said. The largest increases were for exports to South Korea, Russia, Japan, the U.S. and Brazil, it said. But the import pattern was mixed, with the largest increases recorded for imports from Switzerland, the U.S. and Norway, and the biggest drops with India and Japan, it said. The EU27 trade surplus with the U.S. increased, while its trade deficit with China declined. Germany had the largest trade surplus among EU countries, the U.K. the greatest deficit for January-August, it said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a final rule, effective Jan. 16, removing from the Entity List four persons, modifying one entry, and removing another redundant entry. Some of these changes resulted from the End-user Review Committee’s annual review of entities in the United Arab Emirates, Armenia, Cyprus, France, and Iran.
The U.S. Trade Representative sent a letter to the International Trade Commission requesting an investigation in connection with the 2012 Annual Review of the Generalized System of Preferences. The USTR requested inquiries into the economic effects of (1) designating four products eligible for GSP benefits; and (2) granting competitive need limitation (CNL) waivers for 12 products. The USTR asked for the results of the investigation by April 10.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service revised export requirements and plant lists for the following countries for Jan. 4-10:
On Jan. 1-2 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports: