The U.K. on Oct. 1 reimposed nuclear-related sanctions on Iran covering 121 people and entities, which were paused after the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal. The reimposition of the restrictions follows the reinstatement of the so-called "snapback" sanctions earlier this week at the U.N. (see 2508280033).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned nearly 40 people and entities with ties to networks helping to buy sensitive goods and technology for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, along with its missile and military aircraft production efforts.
House Foreign Affairs Europe Subcommittee Chairman Keith Self, R-Texas, unveiled a bill Sept. 30 to codify a new interim final rule that will place subsidiaries on the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List or Military End-User List if they are owned 50% or more by companies on those lists.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week fined British Virgin Islands-based company Hallewell Ventures and its owner, Albert Avdolyan, $374,474 for violating sanctions against Russia. BIS said Hallewell illegally reexported a Bombardier Global 7500 jet from the Maldives to Russia without a license.
A Canada-headquartered biotechnology company agreed to pay the Bureau of Industry and Security $685,051 after admitting to illegally exporting water quality testing and analytical instruments to Iran. BIS said the company knew the shipments violated U.S. export controls, adding that it worked to “conceal” the destination of the exports by falsely listing a United Arab Emirates freight forwarder as the ultimate consignee, undervalued the items to avoid UAE customs scrutiny, and left out references to Iran in the invoice.
Processing of most export license applications, as well as sanctions licenses, will pause during the government shutdown that began Oct. 1, although export enforcement operations and national security-related investigations will continue, the Commerce, State and Treasury departments said this week.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., criticized the Bureau of Industry and Security’s new final rule rescinding the Biden administration’s increased restrictions on firearms exports (see 2509290045), saying the move will diminish government oversight of such transactions.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Sept. 10 imposed a penalty of about $205,338 against pharmaceutical company Colorcon for making unlicensed payments to sanctioned Russian banks.
The 60-day temporary general license in the Bureau of Industry and Security's new 50% rule (see 2509290017) is “very limited” and could push exporters to apply for licenses “on an expedited basis to avoid noncompliance,” Morgan Lewis said in a client alert.
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