The Bureau of Industry and Security issued new restrictions on exports to Myanmar and added four entities to the Entity List in response to the country’s military-led coup last month (see 2102110020). The restrictions, which take effect March 8, increase controls on certain “sensitive” items, remove certain license exceptions, impose a more strict licensing policy and subject Myanmar to BIS’s military end-use and end-user restrictions (see 2012220027), according to a final rule released March 4.
The U.S. needs to modernize its approach to export controls and expand disclosure requirements for foreign investment screening to maintain its technology dominance over China, a U.S. national security commission said in a report this week. The commission called current U.S. export controls outdated, urged the Commerce Department to more quickly control emerging and foundational technologies, and said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. should review a broader set of transactions to protect sensitive technologies.
The U.S. sanctioned a host of Russian officials and agencies, will add 14 entities to the Entity List and will increase restrictions on exports of military-related goods to Russia in response to the poisoning and imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The increased export controls will also remove certain license exceptions for shipments to Russia and will impose stricter license review policies for certain sensitive goods, the State Department said March 2.
Morocco’s customs agency recently began requiring additional documents from U.S. beef exporters to ensure they are meeting terms outlined in the U.S.-Morocco free trade deal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report released Feb. 23. Morocco is asking exporters to submit a “self-attestation” that their shipments meet the value requirements contained in the deal’s rules of origin provisions, including that the “direct cost of processing operations is not less than 35 percent of the appraised value of the exported beef and beef products.”
The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
In a case against an Iranian banker accused of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran, Judge Alison Nathan for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York lambasted federal prosecutors over their mishandling of evidence and dereliction of responsibility. Stopping short of finding them guilty of knowingly withholding crucial information or intentionally misrepresenting facts to the court, Nathan in a Feb. 22 ruling called for a full investigation of the prosecutors' actions by the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility and said she hopes the government's reforms on evidence handling training will ensure that similar action is not repeated.
Thompson Hine trade attorney Dan Ujczo expects the only activity on trade in the first eight months of Joe Biden's presidency will be on issues either so small that they don't make a splash -- such as the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill and the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program -- or on issues that have an immediate need for action.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Feb. 22 (some may also be given separate headlines):
Costa Rica recently issued a trade decree intended to “facilitate the application” of various tariff and trade agreements, a Feb. 19 KPMG post said. Under the decree, traders will soon be able to submit certificates of origin electronically, KPMG said, and Costa Rica’s national customs system won’t require commercial invoices and other trade-related certifications to be authenticated. The decree also includes time frames for traders to correct their certificates of origin, outlines which “mechanisms” are used to request custom duty refunds, and establishes “parameters that customs control documents must satisfy.”
India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade proposed issuing Certificate of Origins (Non-Preferential) through its online Common Digital Platform, effective April 1. Issued in a Feb. 19 trade notice, importers and exporters will be able to file for a CoO (NP) online or in manual mode, but applications will be accepted only in online mode. A uniform fee of 100 rupees will be charged with each CoO certificate issued.