Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The U.K. government is now recommending -- but not mandating -- that companies insert “no-Russia” clauses in their contracts, saying those clauses could help shield exporters and sellers against sanctions risks. It also published guidance about the specific steps companies can take to carry out export due diligence, which goods and countries face a higher risk of Russia-related sanctions-evasion, red flags to monitor, and more.
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., is joining the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this month for the new 119th Congress, incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced Jan. 2.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control was one of multiple Treasury Department offices recently breached by Chinese government hackers, the Washington Post reported this week. Treasury reportedly disclosed the hack in a Dec. 30 letter to lawmakers, saying that it was still assessing the impact. The agency added that the documents accessed were unclassified and there was no evidence the hacker still has access to Treasury systems.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Russian Judge Olesya Mendeleeva for her involvement in the “arbitrary detention” of Moscow city councilor and human rights advocate Alexei Gorinov, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2022 for opposing Russia’s war against Ukraine. OFAC said Mendeleeva is known for giving “long and harsh sentences” and convicted Gorinov of “knowingly disseminating false information about the Russian military," the first judge in Russia to find a defendant guilty for such a charge.
The U.S. this week sanctioned the Cognitive Design Production Center, a subsidiary of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the Moscow-based Center for Geopolitical Expertise, an entity tied to the Russian government, for interfering in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The Office of Foreign Assets Control said the Cognitive Design Production Center planned influence operations to “incite socio-political tensions” among the U.S. electors in the lead-up to the elections, and the Center for Geopolitical Expertise helped create and circulate deepfakes and disinformation about candidates in the general election. OFAC also sanctioned Valery Mikhaylovich Korovin, the organization’s director.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
A New York-based aviation parts supplier will pay $22,172 to the Office of Foreign Assets Control to settle Russia-related sanctions violations it allegedly committed in early 2024. The company, SkyGeek Logistics, made shipments and attempted refunds to two United Arab Emirates companies that had been sanctioned for supplying equipment and technology to Russia, OFAC said.
The Netherlands said it’s seeing an uptick in exports of sanctioned goods to countries with a history of helping Russia evade sanctions, with many of those exports being sent by smaller firms that entered the market within the last couple of years.
The EU this month issued new guidance on its sanctions for importing Russian diamonds, describing the types of diamonds subject to trade restrictions, explaining how the restrictions apply to jewelry that incorporates Russian diamonds, outlining a new mandatory diamond traceability mechanism, and more.