The Congressional Research Service released a Feb. 5 report on the global oil market effects of U.S. sanctions against Iran, Russia and Venezuela. The report contains an overview of U.S. sanctions against the three countries’ oil markets, including how successfully U.S. sanctions have blocked oil trade. The CRS said U.S. sanctions have succeeded in their goals in hurting the target markets, but U.S. sanctions frameworks do not include “design elements that consider possible oil market impacts” if the sanctions are eased or lifted.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 27-31 in case you missed them.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Jan. 31 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned eight people and on entity related to Russian interference in Ukraine, Treasury said in a Jan. 29 press release. The sanctions target Yuri Gotsanyuk, Mikhail Razvozhaev, Vladimir Nemtsev, Sergei Danilenko, Lidia Basova, Ekaterina Pyrkova, Ekaterina Altabaeva, Alexander Ganov and the Grand Service Express, a Moscow railway company that offers transportation between Russia and Crimea. The sanctions were coordinated with Canada, Treasury said, which announced similar sanctions Jan. 29. The European Union Council sanctioned seven of the eight people Jan. 28 (see 2001280047).
In the Jan. 23-28 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The Council of the European Union sanctioned seven people for participating in the organization of Russian local elections in Ukraine, according to a Jan. 28 press release. The people were sanctioned for undermining the “territorial integrity” of Ukraine and are now subject to asset freezes, the notice said.
A German court sentenced a Russian citizen to prison for illegally exporting military technology to Russia, according to a Jan. 9 report from Deutsche Welle. The citizen, identified as Vladamir D., was sentenced to seven years in prison after violating European Union sanctions by selling about $2 million worth of goods to “military recipients in Russia,” the report said. The goods are used for “military missile-related technology,” the report said, and included two “hot isostatic presses,” which are used in space-related technology. The man was also contracted to export 33 pounds of “decaborane chemicals” to a “military recipient” in Russia, the report said, and successfully sent an undisclosed amount. Authorities said the man “forged documents and used fake recipients” to evade Germany’s export controls, according to Deutsche Welle.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has done little to define the broad scope of the Iranian executive order issued earlier this month that expanded sanctions authority for the Treasury and State departments, according to trade lawyers. The order (see 2001100050) -- which authorized both primary and secondary sanctions against Iran’s construction, mining, manufacturing and textiles sectors -- did not define the scope of the Iranian sectors that may be subject to sanctions, and OFAC has yet to release guidance. OFAC did, however, issue a frequently asked question that provided a 90-day wind-down period (see 2001160011).
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two North Korean entities involved in illegal exploitation of North Korea labor to generate money overseas, Treasury said in a Jan. 14 press release. Treasury said the two North Korean companies -- North Korea-based Namgang Trading Corporation (NTC) and China-based Beijing Sukbakso -- evade United Nations Security Council resolutions by sending North Korean laborers abroad. All UN member states were required to expel North Korean laborers in December, the press release said. NTC “maintained” laborers in “multiple” countries, including Russia, Nigeria and throughout the Middle East. Sukbakso, a lodging facility, handles portions of the travel and logistics for NTC personnel working overseas, Treasury said.
The U.S. will impose further sanctions against Iran in response to its recent missile attacks on a U.S. military base in Iraq, President Donald Trump said Jan. 8. Trump called the measures “punishing economic sanctions,” which will “remain until Iran changes its behavior,” including abandoning its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Details of the sanctions were not immediately released.