President Joe Biden this week renewed a national emergency authorizing certain sanctions related to the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, the White House said. The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the "means of delivering them" continues to pose a threat to the U.S., the White House said. The emergency was renewed for one year from Nov. 14.

Senior Treasury Department officials this week met with humanitarian groups, non-governmental organizations and others in Europe and the U.S. to stress that transactions involving Gaza-related aid aren’t prohibited by U.S. sanctions. Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson met with groups in Brussels and Washington, respectively, to hear about the “challenges in delivering aid in Gaza,” Treasury said. The officials shared the agency’s “commitment to ensuring that U.S. sanctions do not stand in the way of legitimate humanitarian activities.”

The U.S., the U.K. and Canada issued new sanctions this week against Myanmar, targeting various entities and officials with ties to the country’s military regime and its purchase of weapons.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week announced its second round of Hamas-related sanctions after the terror group’s killings in Israel earlier this month, designating more Hamas-linked officials and financial networks. The agency sanctioned people helping Hamas evade sanctions, their companies and other entities with ties to the group.

The U.S. is planning more actions, including sanctions, to try to cut Hamas off from the global financial system after the terrorist group’s killings in Israel earlier this month, said Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. Nelson, speaking during a meeting of the multilateral Terrorist Financing Targeting Center this week in Saudi Arabia, said the U.S. has “much more work to do” to build on its initial response, which has so far included new designations (see 2310180003 and 2310160054) and a new advisory to provide banks with guidance on countering Hamas financing.

President Joe Biden this week renewed a national emergency authorizing certain sanctions related to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the White House said. Congo has been “marked by widespread violence and atrocities that continue to threaten regional stability” and pose an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy” of the U.S., the White House said. The emergency was renewed for one year from Oct. 27.

The U.N. Security Council recently renewed an arms embargo and certain sanctions against Haiti to help prevent the supply of weapons to the nation, the State Department said. The agency applauded the move, adding that the U.S. is using “new criminal authorities” to “hold firearms traffickers accountable,” including creating a Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit in Haiti to aid investigations and prosecutions of transnational crimes. The unit will focus on weapons and ammunition smuggling, human trafficking and transnational gang activity. “We will continue to use all available tools to promote accountability for corrupt actors, individuals supporting gang violence, and other criminal activity in Haiti,” the State Department said.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed an authorization for certain Russia-related energy transactions. General License 8H, which replaced GL 8G, authorizes certain transactions with several Russian energy companies through 12:01 a.m. EDT May 1. The license was previously scheduled to expire Nov. 1.

The U.S., the EU and other allied governments need a common “Western Hemisphere approach” to sanctions and export controls, which would make complying with those regulations easier, said Andreas Giger, senior director of trade compliance at German manufacturer KION Group. He said companies are particularly in need of clearer trade rules that either place certain countries off limits or allow for a range of trade instead of complex licensing requirements that can lead to confusion.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned two people and four entities for being a part of Serb Republic President Milorad Dodik’s “patronage network” and supporting his “ongoing corruption,” including by allowing him to siphon public funds to enrich himself and his family. OFAC said Dodik uses his position in the Serb Republic, one of two entities making up Bosnia and Herzegovina, to “accumulate personal wealth through graft, bribery, and other forms of corruption.”