The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said the phone lines for its Help Desk and Response Team have been experiencing issues this week and urged industry to instead email DDTCCustomerService@state.gov with questions. DDTC said it is “working towards a resolution” and will post updates on its websites.

Aydan Sin of British Columbia was convicted of violating the Arms Export Control Act for exporting defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List to the United Arab Emirates and Colombia, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York said. Sin, who allegedly conspired with Guy Deland and Charan Singh, will serve 46 months in prison. Singh began communicating with an undercover law enforcement agent in 2016 to ask about whether the undercover agent could export firearms from the U.S. to Dubai. The agent advised Sin, Deland and Singh that a license was required from the State Department, establishing that the trio knew about the regulations, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Acknowledging the illegality of the shipments, Sin, Deland and Singh then gave the agent an encrypted BlackBerry device to establish secure communications and wired the agent around $70,000 from Canada to the U.S. as a down payment for the guns. The agent sent Sin and Deland two invoices -- one for a shipment to Dubai and one for a shipment to Colombia. Money for the shipments was wired to a bank account in New York. Charges remain pending against Deland and Singh, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

The State Department extended a September 2020 rule that temporarily suspended restrictions on certain defense exports to Cyprus because it has proven to be “in the national security interest” of the U.S., the agency said in a notice released Sept. 29. The rule (see 2009020045) amended the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to relax restrictions surrounding exports of nonlethal defense goods and services to Cyprus, and also eased restrictions on reexports, retransfers and temporary imports. The agency had been considering extending the rule for several months and was monitoring whether it was helping U.S. exporters (see 2010220049). The extended rule, effective Sept. 30, will now last through Sept. 30, 2022.

The State Department is considering an open general-license concept for certain defense exports, which would allow U.S. exporters to ship to certain U.S. trading partners without having to apply for a specific license, a senior agency official said. The concept would likely begin as a pilot program, said Mike Miller, deputy assistant secretary for defense trade in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, but it's still being discussed and there isn’t yet a timetable for release.

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls last week posted name changes for Mission Systems Australia Pty Ltd. and DigiNext LLC and is waiving the requirement for amendments to change approved license authorizations because of the “volume” of authorizations requiring amendments to reflect the change in each instance, DDTC said. Mission Systems Australia Pty Ltd. was changed to L3Harris Integrated Mission Systems Australia Pty Ltd. and DigiNext LLC was changed to CS Group - France, DDTC said. New license applications received after Oct. 23 that identify the old name for each company “will be considered for return without action for correction.”

Although President Joe Biden’s new executive order authorizing sanctions against Ethiopia (see 2109170036) allows for a potentially broad scope of designations, it also signals that the administration will take a slow, cautious approach to its new authorities, law firms said. Companies shouldn’t expect immediate U.S. action against Ethiopia, the firms said, as the administration seems primarily concerned about deterring bad behavior and assuring humanitarian access can still flow to the region.

Christopher Stagg joined Miller & Chevalier as counsel in its International Department, the firm announced. Stagg formerly served as a senior policy adviser with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls at the State Department, where he worked as the deputy lead in rewriting the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and Export Administration Regulations, the firm said. This work also entailed revising the U.S. Munitions List and Commerce Control List. At his own firm, Stagg cultivated experience on export controls, economic sanctions and Committee on Foreign Investments in the U.S. matters, the firm said.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will soon publish an amendment to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to reflect new U.S. sanctions against Ethiopia (see 2109170036), the agency said Sept. 17. DDTC said it’s implementing a policy of denial for exports of defense articles and defense services “to or for the armed forces, police, intelligence, or other internal security forces” of Ethiopia and Eritrea, and will soon make the change official in the ITAR.

Three former U.S. intelligence community or military members -- Marc Baier, Ryan Adams and Daniel Gericke -- entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, agreeing to pay more than $1.68 million to resolve export control violation charges, the Department of Justice said. The trio worked as senior managers at a United Arab Emirates-based company that carried out computer hacking operations to benefit the UAE government during 2016 to 2019, DOJ said. All three were told repeatedly that their work constituted a “defense service” under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, requiring a license from the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. Nevertheless, all three continued their hacking without a license, court documents laid out.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will perform scheduled maintenance on its Defense Export Control and Compliance System 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. EDT Sept. 16, the agency said in a notice this week. DECCS will be unavailable to industry during this time. The agency said users should ensure their “work in progress is saved prior to the scheduled downtime.”