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 Office of Foreign Assets Control this week issued Venezuela-related General License 31B, which replaces General License 31A (see 2101040025), authorizes U.S. persons to engage in transactions otherwise prohibited by sanctions involving the Venezuelan National Assembly seated on Jan. 5, 2016, and associated entities and people. The new license removes a reference to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, since he was ousted by the opposition party's National Assembly last month. OFAC also amended five frequently asked questions related to the license and the Venezeula sanctions.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control added seven people to its Specially Designated Nationals List in connection with Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle shipments to Russia, it said in a Jan. 6 news release. The designees are six executives and board members of previously designated Qods Aviation Industries (QAI), an Iranian defense manufacturer that designs and produces UAVs being transferred to Russia for use in Ukraine. OFAC also sanctioned the director of Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization, the "key organization responsible for overseeing Iran’s ballistic missile programs." The agency also updated QAI’s entry on the SDN List to include its new alias, Light Airplanes Design and Manufacturing Industries.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated four people and two entities associated with the financial facilitation network of the Islamic State group, according to a Jan 5. news release. The network enabled the group’s recruitment and financing into and out of Iraq and Syria. The sanctions focus on the Islamic State group's head of foreign financing, Abd Al Hamid Salim Ibrahim Ismail Brukan al-Khatuni, and his network coordinated by his sons. Turkey's Treasury and Interior ministries also implemented an asset freeze against members of this network.

Danfoss -- the Danish company fined more than $4.3 million last month for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, Syria and Sudan (see 2212300030) -- stressed it didn't sell items subject to sanctions or export controls and has taken steps to improve its compliance program. In a Dec. 30 statement, it also said "no evidence was found that Danfoss willfully accepted payments for the purpose of potentially evading sanctions." The company noted that the Office of Foreign Assets Control said Danfoss "took quick action to ascertain the root causes of the conduct at issue, cooperated fully with OFAC, and also adopted new and more effective internal controls and procedures to prevent a recurrence of the apparent violations." The company added its last shipment to Iran "took place in January 2019."

The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week issued preliminary guidance on the implementation of the price cap for Russian-origin petroleum products, outlining how it will apply restrictions to articles defined by Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. heading 2710. The price cap will work in a similar manner to the crude oil cap, where participating countries will ban "a broad range" of maritime transport services if they support shipping Russian petroleum products over a predetermined cap.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week fined a multinational Danish-based refrigeration manufacturer more than $4.3 million for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, Syria and Sudan. Danfoss, which also sells air conditioners and other cooling and heating products, illegally directed customers in all three countries to make payments through a U.S. financial institution, OFAC said in an enforcement notice. The company also made illegal payments to entities in Iran and Syria.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control is seeking public comments on an information collection involving remittance forwarding services related to Cuba. OFAC imposes recordkeeping requirements, restrictions and other conditions on those services under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations. Comments are due Jan. 30.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week deleted five Iraqi-related entries on its Specially Designated Nationals List. The entries were added to the list in 2004 for operating as part of a network of front companies procuring weapons for the Iraqi Intelligence Service and doing business to support the fallen Saddam Hussein regime. OFAC didn’t release more information.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control published two Russia-related general licenses in the Federal Register this week. The previously issued licenses, 8D and 40C, authorize certain transactions related to Russian energy and civil aviation safety.