The Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated an air transport service provider for its involvement in the shipment of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia, according to a Sept. 8 press release. Additionally, OFAC is designating three companies and one individual involved in the research, development, production and procurement of Iranian UAV components.
Ben Perkins
Ben Perkins, Assistant Editor, is a reporter with International Trade Today and its sister publications, Trade Law Daily and Export Compliance Daily, where he covers sanctions, court rulings, and other international trade issues. He previously worked as a trade analyst for a Washington D.C. advisory firm. Ben holds a B.A. in English from the University of New Hampshire and an M.A. in International Relations from American University. Ben joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2022.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 8 extended a Russia-related general license that authorizes the payment of certain taxes and import fees to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation or the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation despite the sanctions imposed on those entities. General License 13B, which replaces GL 13A (see 2205250054), extends the authorization through 12:01 a.m. EST on Dec. 7, 2022. The 13A license was scheduled to expire Sept. 30.
The Bureau of Industry and Security announced an interim final rule that expands authorization for the release of controlled technology for the purposes of standards-setting activities to also include software and all entities on the agency’s Entity List. The authorization previously applied only to "technology" and some listed entities, namely Huawei and its affiliates. The interim rule addresses concerns about whether BIS licenses are required to release low-level technology for legitimate standards activities, BIS said in a Sept. 8 press release. The interim rule takes effect Sept. 9.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is reissuing its Cyber-Related Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 578, the office said in a Sept. 2 notice. The update replaces regulations published in abbreviated form on Dec. 31, 2015, "with a more comprehensive set of regulations that includes additional interpretive and definitional guidance, general licenses, and other regulatory provisions that will provide further guidance to the public." The regulations will become effective Sept. 6, the date they are set to be published in the Federal Register.
The Group of Seven nations intends to implement a price cap on Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products, according to a joint statement released Sept. 2 by the G-7 Finance Ministers from their summit in Elmau, Germany. The statement included plans to implement a "comprehensive prohibition of services" that support maritime transportation of Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products, based on "a recordkeeping and attestation model" covering relevant contracts. The G-7 said that they were urgently working to finalize and implement the measure in their own jurisdictions through domestic legal processes while building support internationally for the measure.
Russian sanctions and export control evasion attempts are still ongoing. Companies need to remain vigilant across a wide range of areas to minimize their risk of enabling evasion, experts said during a Sept. 1 webinar discussion hosted by the Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists (ACSS).
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security charged PJSC Lukoil, a Russian multinational energy company, with violations of the Export Control Reform Act for the export of a U.S.-manufactured aircraft from Dubai to Russia, according to an Aug. 31 notice. BIS says that Lukoil "effectively owned, controlled, chartered or leased, through a series of shell companies, at least one U.S.-origin aircraft" subject to the Export Administration Regulations and that its export in March violated license requirements imposed in February.
The Group of Seven nations intend to implement a price cap on Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products, according to a joint statement released today by the G7 Finance Ministers.
Only a small percentage of foreign real estate purchases are reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, but that may change given an uptick in concern, lawyers at Morgan Lewis said in an Aug. 29 blog post.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a new round of sanctions targeting Kremlin-connected elites and businesses that generate "substantial revenue for the Russian regime, OFAC said in an Aug. 2 news release. Thirteen individuals, 36 entities and two vessels were added to OFAC's Speacially Designated Nationals List.