The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security renewed an export denial order for Mahan Airways because the airline continues to violate the order and the Export Administration Regulations, BIS said in a notice. The Iranian airline has been on the banned list since 2008, and the notice renewed the ban for 180 days, BIS said. Since the order was last renewed June 5 (see 1906060054), the U.S. has discovered that the airline is now operating a U.S.-origin Boeing 747 between Iranian airports in Tehran, Kish Island and Mashhad. The aircraft “appears to be” one of three planes Mahan illegally acquired through Blue Airways of Armenia and United Kingdom-based Balli Group, BIS said. In addition, Mahan was involved in the illegal export of a U.S.-origin atomic absorption spectrometer from the U.S. to Iran via the United Arab Emirates in November. The spectrometer is subject to the EAR, and the export violated the terms of Mahan’s denial order, BIS said.
A Lebanese energy equipment company was fined $368,000 by the Bureau of Industry and Security after it illegally re-exported generators to Syria, according to a settlement agreement signed Nov. 27. Ghaddar Machinery allegedly committed 20 violations of the Export Administration Regulations from 2014 to 2016, totaling about $730,000 worth of exports, BIS said. Ghaddar agreed to pay the penalty in five installments through November 2021. Failure to make the payments could result in more penalties, according to the settlement agreement, including a two-year denial of export privileges.
The Department of Commerce published its fall 2019 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security. The agenda includes a new mention of its intent to potentially control certain additive manufacturing equipment, or 3D printing, used in “energetic materials” as part of BIS’s effort to restrict sales of emerging technologies (see 1911210051). The notice of proposed rulemaking aims to gather feedback from industries while “discussions are ongoing” at the Wassenaar Arrangement. BIS said it aims to issue the proposed rule in November.
The Commerce Department is seeking comments on an information collection regarding 10 “miscellaneous activities” associated with exports of items controlled under the Export Administration Regulations, the agency said in a notice. The activities involve the exchange of documents among parties in an export transaction to “ensure that each party understands its obligations under U.S. law,” Commerce said. The activities also involve “writing certain export control statements on shipping documents or reporting unforeseen changes in shipping and disposition of exported commodities.” Comments are due Jan. 21, 2020.
The Commerce Department will likely seek multilateral support for upcoming export controls on additive manufacturing of metals, said Sean Ghannadian, a Bureau of Industry and Security official and part of Commerce’s Wassenaar Arrangement group. Commerce is also moving toward controlling certain ceramic coating technologies as part of the agency’s effort to identify and restrict sales of emerging technologies (see 1911200045), Ghannadian said.
The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security finalized some interagency reviews of Huawei license applications and will begin issuing approvals and denials on a “rolling basis,” according to Matt Borman, Commerce deputy assistant secretary for export administration. The announcement was first made by Secretary Wilbur Ross, who told Fox Business on Nov. 19 that Commerce has started “to send out the 20-day intent-to-deny letters and some approvals.” Ross also said Commerce has received about 290 “requests for specific licenses.”
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 12-15 in case they were missed.
The Commerce Department renewed the temporary general license for Huawei and 114 of its non-U.S. affiliates until Feb. 16, Commerce announced Nov. 18. The renewal -- the license’s second extension (see 1908190039) since it was issued in May -- authorizes certain specific activities and transactions, including those related to existing network operations of mobile services, despite Huawei's addition to the Entity List.
The Commerce Department officially revoked export privileges for AW-Tronics, a Miami-based company also known as Arrowtronic, for violations of the Export Administration Regulations, the Bureau of Industry and Security said in a Nov. 15 notice. BIS previously revoked export privileges for Arrowtronic, manager Arash Caby and registered agent Ali Caby on Nov. 14 for illegally exporting aircraft parts to Syrian Arab Airlines (see 1911130043). BIS named AW-Tronics as part of the scheme, saying the business was referred to as the “same company” as Arrowtronic in company documents and emails, the notice said. BIS revoked export privileges for AW-Tronics for six years from Oct. 30, 2019.
A Rhode Island veterinary instrument supplier was fined $136,000 by the Commerce Department for 11 violations of the Export Administration Regulations, Commerce said in a charging letter signed Nov. 7. The company, Cotran Corp., illegally exported electric cattle prods to Venezuela, Mexico, South Africa and the Czech Republic without the required license, and did not comply with EAR record-keeping requirements, Commerce said.