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US – OFAC amends and reissues Somalia Sanctions Regulations, adds certain General Licenses

By , and 3 Mins Read

On April 28, 2021, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a final rule amending and reissuing the Somalia Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 551 (“Regulations”) to further implement two existing Executive Orders, Executive Order 13536 of April 2010 and Executive Order 13620 of July 2012, and to replace the prior Somalia Sanctions Regulations that were published in May 2010 in abbreviated form. The Regulations also add a number of definitions and provisions to bring the Regulations in line…

EU aims to address Strategic Dependencies

By 1 Min Read

As part of its updated 2020 Industrial Strategy, the EU Commission noted that the pandemic has highlighted the trading bloc’s technological and industrial strategy dependencies, which need to be analysed and addressed as part of Europe’s economic recovery. The Commission presented the findings of a review of products imported into the EU on which the EU is highly dependent in notably sensitive sectors, along with the results of six in-depth reviews providing insights on the origin…

Over 56,400 cultural goods seized and 67 arrests made in action involving 31 countries

By 2 Mins Read

On 11 May 2021, the World Customs Organization announced that the 2020 edition of Operation Pandora targeting the illicit trafficking of cultural goods has been the most successful to date with over 56,400 cultural goods seized. These goods include archaeological objects, furniture, coins, paintings, musical instruments and sculptures. Excerpts from the announcement follow: Running from 1 June to 31 October 2020, Operation Pandora V saw the involvement of Customs and other law enforcement authorities from…

US to host first USMCA Free Trade Commission

By 1 Min Read

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…

US – OFAC amends Frequently Asked Questions related to TSRA, as well as the Sudan and Darfur Sanctions

By , and 3 Mins Read

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…

United States seeks Mexico’s review of alleged worker’s rights denial at auto manufacturing facility

By 1 Min Read

Action by USTR marks the first use of the USMCA Rapid Response Labor Mechanism On May 12, 2021,the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the United States has asked Mexico to review whether workers at a General Motors (GM) facility are being denied the right of free association and collective bargaining. The request is the first time any country has used the novel Rapid Response Labor Mechanism in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). USTR and…

US – USITC recommends that the President make certain modifications to the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule Nomenclature

By 2 Mins Read

On May 12, 2021, the US International Trade Commission (USITC) announced that it had issued a report recommending that the President make certain modifications to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) to conform it with World Customs Organization (WCO) amendments to the global Harmonized System. The USITC’s report, Recommended Modifications in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, 2021, Inv. No. 1205-13, USITC Publication 5171, March 2021, is available on the USITC web site. The announcement said:…

EU – Revised EU dual-use export controls passed by EU institutions

By , and 1 Min Read

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 – PRC Ministry of Commerce announce Export Control Internal Compliance Guidelines

By , and 2 Mins Read

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…

US – OFAC revokes General License authorizing transactions with certain Belarusian SDNs and issues Wind-Down License

By , and 1 Min Read

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…