The Bureau of Industry and Security is recommending exporters, reexporters and other businesses add a new customer screening tool to their due diligence steps before trading in goods that could later be diverted to Russia’s military, especially for microelectronics and other sensitive goods Russia is looking to import. In new guidance published this week, BIS also clarified the specific compliance steps companies and universities should take if they receive a red-flag letter, an is-informed letter or other written warnings from the agency about certain risky customers or transactions.
Certain vessels targeted by the EU’s sanctions against Russia may use European ports and port services in special emergency scenarios, including to unload “dangerous or polluting goods,” the European Commission said in a recent frequently asked question. Those vessels can use EU ports “within a reasonable time” after being sanctioned, “and in any case not later than 30 days from the date of” their designation, the FAQ said.
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The U.K. on July 3 issued a general license authorizing certain transactions between sanctioned parties and the National Settlement Depository. The license allows certain designated parties -- except for those subject to Russia-related sanctions -- to "carry out any activity reasonably necessary to sell, divest or transfer" debt and equity securities and financial instruments held by the National Settlement Depository. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said any party conducting a transaction under the license must keep records on those transactions for a minimum of six years. The license runs through Aug. 13.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control deleted two Russia-related entries from its Specially Designation Nationals List. The agency removed Marina Igorevna Tsareva, who was sanctioned in 2018 for helping to procure underwater equipment and diving systems for Russian government agencies, and Alexey Valeryevich Panferov, who OFAC had sanctioned in 2022 as part of a tranche of designations targeting Russia's defense industrial base. An agency spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about why OFAC removed both from the SDN List.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said July 8 that he hopes to have a "significant package of China-related legislation" signed into law this year, including measures to "punish" Chinese military firms that provide material support to Russia and Iran.
The EU on July 3 declined to extend the protections in the Energy Charter Treaty -- a trade and investment deal for the energy sector -- to investments and investors from Russia and Belarus in order to boost its sanctions enforcement efforts, the European Commission announced. While neither Russia nor Belarus is a party to the Energy Charter Treaty, investors from these countries could theoretically use corporations set up in a signatory country to allege that the EU or its member states have violated "investment protection obligations" of the ECT and bring investor-state dispute settlement proceedings, the commission said. The EU's move eliminates the basis for making any such claim.
Douglas Robertson, former vice president of KanRus Trading Co., pleaded guilty on July 2 to conspiring to violate U.S. export laws by shipping "sophisticated and controlled avionics equipment to customers in Russia," DOJ announced.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on July 3 updated a range of Russia-related entries on its Specially Designated Nationals List and Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List to specify that they present secondary sanctions risks. The agency added language to those entries to clarify that they present a secondary sanctions risk under “Section 11 of Executive Order 14024,” a 2021 order that authorizes certain sanctions against Russia. The agency didn’t provide more information.
EU governments need to do more to stop China from exporting dual-use items to Russia, including by sanctioning more Chinese companies and imposing secondary sanctions on foreign banks and other entities that are helping to facilitate those transactions, three think tanks said in a recent report.