The Bureau of Industry and Security will add four Myanmar entities to the Entity List June 6 for supporting the country’s Ministry of Defense, including through funding and the provision of telecommunication services. BIS will also correct the address for an existing Myanmar entity on the list. For each of the new entities, BIS will impose a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, and no license exceptions will be available. The entities will be subject to a license review policy of presumption of denial.
A shift toward list-based sanctions and a rise in federal government compliance expectations are causing increasing challenges for the compliance community, compliance professionals said. At the center of those challenges are the designations imposed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which is setting a high bar for due diligence by more clearly describing its compliance expectations in settlement agreements.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for June 21-25 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's decision to add five more Chinese companies to the Entity List (see 2106230004) is part of a “government-wide effort” under the Biden administration to take “strong action” against China’s human rights violations against Muslim minority groups, the Commerce Department said June 24. The move, which increased the total number of parties “implicated” by the U.S. in Xinjiang human rights abuses to 53, will restrict their ability to access commodities, software and technology subject to the Export Administration Regulations, Commerce said. “As we made clear during this month’s G7 summit, the United States is committed to employing all of its tools, including export controls, to ensure that global supply chains are free from the use of forced labor and technology is not misused to abuse human rights,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “The Commerce Department will continue to take firm, decisive action to hold China and other perpetrators of human rights abuses accountable.”
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for June 7-11 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added five Chinese companies to the Entity List for their involvement in the government’s human rights abuses against Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region, the agency said in a final rule. For each of the entities, BIS will impose a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The final rule takes effect June 24.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will on June 24 add five Chinese companies to the Entity List for their involvement in the government’s human rights abuses against Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region. For each of the entities, BIS will impose a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. Items classified under several Export Control Classification Numbers will be subject to a case-by-case review policy, but all other exports will be subject to a presumption of denial. No license exceptions will be available.
Exporters looking to comply with U.S. Entity List restrictions should pay close attention to foreign companies affected by a CBP withhold release order, which could later lead to U.S. export restrictions, said Sylvia Costelloe, a trade lawyer with Arent Fox. Costelloe said at least two companies were subject to a WRO and later added to the Entity List, including China-based Hetian Haolin Hair Accessories (see 2005010040 and 2007200026). “What this indicates here in this space is that there might actually be some cooperation or some collaboration between CBP and Commerce,” Costelloe said during a June 16 Arent Fox webinar. While she said CBP doesn’t sit on the End-User Review Committee, which decides which entities to add and remove from the Entity List, Commerce still “might be looking to CBP when deciding whether or not to add certain entities to the Entity List.” Commerce didn’t immediately comment.
Promega Corp., a U.S. biotechnology company, said it doesn't sell to China’s Xinjiang region. following a report last week that said the company’s products are being used by Xinjiang police (see 2106150055). “Promega does not conduct business in Xinjiang, and we have no customers or distributors there,” a company spokesperson said in a June 16 email. Promega said it “takes seriously its obligation to comply with all applicable U.S. government export controls and sanctions requirements,” including the Entity List, and has “robust procedures and controls that ensure compliance with such requirements.”
Republican lawmakers again threatened to remove export control responsibilities from the Commerce Department if it doesn’t move faster to issue restrictions over emerging and foundational technologies, doubling down on criticism levied at agency officials for months. The latest threat, sent in a June 15 letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and signed by 10 Republican senators, highlights the tension between an agency that wants to avoid rushing into overbroad controls that could harm U.S. companies and lawmakers who say Commerce is neglecting a congressional mandate to restrict sensitive exports to China.