Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 15-19 in case they were missed.
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued a July 17 notice saying that Access Certificates for Electronic Services (ACES) certificates are required to “access the DTrade defense export licensing system.” The DDTC said all ACES certificates “must expire” before Aug. 1, 2020, and that the ACES provider, IdenTrust, will continue to issue certificates if they are “posted with an expiration date” of July 31, 2020, or earlier. “If you purchase an ACES certificate after July 31st, 2019, the validity period will be truncated to less than a full year,” the DDTC said. Questions about the ACES transition should be directed to IdenTrust at Support@IdenTrust.com or to the DDTC’s help desk at dtradehelpdesk@state.gov.
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is changing the name of its Defense Trade Controls Compliance Registration division to the Registration Compliance & Analysis (RCA) division, the DDTC said in a July 15 notice. There will be no change to the registration organization’s structure, the DDTC said. The notice said all registration letters issued on or after July 15 will “reflect the RCA division” and all active letters issued before July 15 remain valid and no changes are needed. The DDTC also said it updated its website on July 15 to reflect the name change.
A Florida resident was arrested for export violations after he illegally shipped hundreds of assault rifle parts to an Argentine weapons trafficking organization, the Justice Department said in a July 12 press release. Cristian German Barrera, who was charged with conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, did not have the proper license to export AR-15 assault rifle parts to Argentina, the Justice Department said. U.S. Homeland Security Investigations officials worked with Argentine law enforcement to seize the weapons parts, which included long arms, handguns, a mortar round and more than 30,000 rounds of ammunition, the press release said.
Plans to reorganize International Traffic in Arms Regulations are ongoing despite what has been a lengthy legal review of the draft rules, a Directorate of Defense Trade Controls official said while speaking July 9 at the Bureau of Industry and Security annual export controls conference. Through a "series of rules we are trying to make the content of the ITAR more linear and more discernable," said Rob Hart, regulatory and multilateral affairs division chief in the Office of Defense Trade Controls Policy.
As the Trump administration pushes for export controls on certain firearms to be transferred from the State Department to the Commerce Department, top Commerce officials said the move should not be a cause for concern and said they are welcoming feedback from the public and members of Congress.
Vinson & Elkins hired Damara Chambers, previously at Covington & Burling, as a partner and co-leader of the firm's national security practice, Vinson & Elkins said in a news release. "Chambers focuses her practice on national security reviews conducted by [the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States] and other agencies, including the Defense Security Service and the Department of Energy in connection with the mitigation of foreign ownership, control or influence (FOCI), and the State Department in connection with reviews pursuant to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations," the firm said.
As the Commerce Department prepares to issue export controls on emerging technologies, U.S. industries are urging the agency to limit controls on artificial intelligence and 3D printing, according to industry comments gathered by Jessica Blum Sanchez, the trade compliance manager at Accenture Federal Services.
John Peterson and Brunella Zuppone were arrested June 26 and charged with "conspiracy to violate and attempted violations of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a June 28 news release. The pair are alleged to have tried to "illegally export to Argentina defense articles, specifically, parts and components for AR-15 assault rifles, which were smuggled across international borders by a transnational weapons trafficking group in Argentina," the Justice Department said. Neither had required licenses from the State Department for exporting such goods, it said.
The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations advanced a bill on June 25 that would repeal the ban on all exports to Cyprus that fall on the U.S. Munitions List. The change would prohibit the State Department from denying exports, re-exports or transfers of defense items and services to Cyprus as long as Cyprus is the end-user, the bill states. The repeal would advance U.S. “security interests” in Europe by helping Cyprus reduce its dependence on “other countries” for defense products, including countries that “pose challenges” to the U.S., the bill said. The change comes as part of a larger bill that would require the State Department to submit reports to Congress on Russian interference in Cyprus, Greece and Israel. The bill would also call on the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Turkey and Russia if Turkey carries out its plan to buy an S-400 air defense system from Russia.