The U.S. announced new measures against people and companies helping Russia evade sanctions, adding 28 entities to the Commerce Department’s Entity List and more than 50 new entries to the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals List. The Entity List additions, effective April 12, include companies in China, Armenia, Malta, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan, all of which have supported Russia’s military or defense industrial base. New designations imposed by Treasury and the State Department target people and companies operating in Russia or that are aiding Moscow's war effort and its imports of “critical technologies."
Microsoft will pay more than $3.3 million combined to settle alleged export control and sanctions violations largely related to its foreign subsidiaries, the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a pair of news releases April 6.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week extended its public comment periods for two recent information collections. BIS initially requested comments on each in November and is now extending the comment periods for 30 days. One information collection involves the procedure for entities on the Unverified List or Entity List to request removal or “modification” of their placement on either list (see 2211230010), and the other is related to voluntary disclosures for violations of the Export Administration Regulations (see 2211170010).
The U.S. and more than 20 of its allies this week released an export controls code of conduct, establishing a new forum for “subscribing states” to share information and stop technologies from being used for human rights violations. The Bureau of Industry and Security also issued new guidance describing how it factors human rights issues into its export application decisions and outlining the due diligence responsibilities of exporters.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week added 11 entities in China, Myanmar, Nicaragua and Russia to the Entity List for various activities that have contributed to human rights abuses, the agency said in a final rule effective March 28. The entities include procurement firms, a police entity and technology and electronics companies, including several subsidiaries of Chinese surveillance company Hikvision, which was added to the Entity List in 2019 (see 2205090014).
The Biden administration this week plans to “unveil” new human rights-related export control measures as part of the second Summit for Democracy, a senior administration official said. The measures will show how the U.S. and its allies have so far implemented the Export Controls and Human Rights Initiative, an effort announced at the first democracy summit in 2021 that was designed to lead to better guardrails on exports of surveillance items and other technologies (see 2112090030).
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 11 entities in China, Myanmar, Nicaragua and Russia to the Entity List for various activities that have contributed to human rights abuses, the agency said in a final rule effective March 28. The entities include technology and electronics companies, among them multiple subsidiaries of Chinese surveillance company Hikvision, which was added to the Entity List in 2019 (see 2205090014). The entities will face a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, and BIS will review license applications under a presumption of denial. BIS also amended the EAR to “explicitly confirm” that protecting human rights worldwide is a “basis” for adding entities to the Entity List.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week added 32 parties to its Unverified List after it was unable to verify their “legitimacy and reliability” for receiving export-controlled items. The additions include 14 entries in China, five in the United Arab Emirates, four in Turkey, two in Germany and one each in Bulgaria, Canada, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.