On May 12, 2021, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that it will replace aging rail scanning systems at twelve rail ports of entry on the US southern and northern land borders with high energy rail scanners as part of a $46 million initiative to enhance the security and efficiency of rail cargo inspections at locations throughout the United States. The new scanners use linear accelerators to generate X-rays from electricity rather than radioactive…
On May 14, 2021, USTR announced that Ambassador Katherine Tai will host the inaugural Free Trade Commission (FTC) of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on May 17-18, 2021. Mexican Secretary of Economy Tatiana Clouthier, and Canada Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, Mary Ng, will attend the virtual meeting. The USMCA modernized the trading relationship between the three countries for the 21st century. The FTC is the first step toward realizing the…
On April 12, 2021, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued four amended Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to submissions made pursuant to the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (“TSRA”), as well as the Sudan Program and Darfur Sanctions. We summarize these FAQs below. FAQs Concerning TSRA FAQs 97 and 98 clarify the process for obtaining a TSRA license, as follows: FAQ 97 provides that OFAC only accepts license applications submitted online…
On 10 May, the Council of the European Union adopted a revised version of the EU’s Dual-Use Regulation. This is the first major reform to the structure of the EU’s export control regime since 2009. The text, which was passed by the European Parliament on 26 March, has been under negotiation for five years and was agreed in November 2020 (see our previous blog post). Key changes include two new general export authorisations, stricter controls on cyber-surveillance and technical assistance,…
China’s Export Control Law (“ECL”) came into effect on 1 December 2020, providing a framework to a series of separate administrative regulations on export controls issued prior to the law’s enactment. While no implementing rules or regulations under the ECL have been enacted since its passage into law, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) recently released Announcement No. 10 of 2021, on “Internal Compliance Guidelines on the Export of Dual-Use Items” (hereafter, the “Guidelines”) pursuant to Article…
On April 19, 2021, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) revoked Belarus General License 2G (“GL 2G”), which had generally authorized US Person participation in transactions involving nine Belarusian state-owned entities designated as Specially Designated Nations (SDNs), and entities in which they own a 50 percent or greater interest. The revocation of GL 2G effectively strengthens US sanctions against Belarus, and may make it more difficult for US Persons to conduct…
The European Parliament has adopted a non-binding resolution in the event of Russian troops entering Ukraine. The resolution proposes that imports of oil and gas from Russia to the EU be immediately stopped, that Russia should be excluded from the SWIFT payment system (used for international bank transfers) and that assets in the EU of oligarchs close to the Russian authorities and their families should be frozen in the event of Russian troops entry into…
The EU, as a result of the United States’ failure to bring the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (‘CDSOA’) in compliance with its obligations under the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’) agreements, was authorised to impose an additional customs duty on certain products of the United States. In conformity with the WTO authorisation to suspend the application of concessions to the United States, the Commission is to adjust the level of suspension annually to the…
The UK has issued the Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations 2021 (the “Regulations“), which came into force on 26 April 2021. These Regulations are designed to ensure that sanctions relating to serious incidents of corruption are enforced. The Regulations will give the government the power to impose asset freezes on designated persons or those dealing with them, with the aim of preventing the UK from being used as a “haven for dirty money.” This is the first time…
Russia introduces restrictions on the activities of foreign auditors Under Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 622 dated 19 April 2021 “On restrictions on the provision of information and documentation to an audit organization, an individual auditor“ (“Decree”), starting from April 29, 2021, a wide list of audited Russian entities will cease to disclose information, that is normally subject to mandatory disclosure requirements, to audit organizations which are owned or controlled by…