Japan Arrests Trading Company Exec for Export Control Violations
Japanese authorities last week arrested the representative of a trading company for allegedly illegally exporting controlled items subject to sanctions on Russia, Baker McKenzie said in a client alert. The Russian citizen's arrest marks the first of its kind in Japan involving illicit exports to Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
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The firm said the individual allegedly exported "one marine engine, four water bikes, and a used motorcycle to Russia in January 2023" without a license to ship the goods. The items were allegedly sent from the port of Osaka to Russia through South Korea, arriving in Vladivostok in February 2023.
The trading company handles Japanese products, including food and used cars, and executes direct sales to Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, Baker McKenzie said, citing the company's website. According to press reports, the company began shipping items to South Korea around July 2022, after Japan beefed up its Russia sanctions.
The firm said the Japanese government, until now, has been deemed "modest in enforcing penal regulations against cases of sanctions violations." Companies must understand and comply with Japan's "latest sanctions-related laws and regulations against Russia" and also "scrutinize whether they are circumventing the sanctions and whether they have established a system to prevent sanctions circumvention," Baker McKenzie said.