The U.S. and three of its partners this week expanded the list of common high-priority items that exporters and others should closely monitor for potential diversion to Russia. The list includes seven new Harmonized System codes -- among them for bearings used for heavy vehicles and antennae used for navigation systems -- and was rearranged to provide “greater clarity” to exporters conducting due diligence on shipments.
The U.N. on Sept. 18 officially ended its sanctions regime against Mali, removing the eight people designated under the asset-blocking measures after Russia was the lone member to veto an extension of the sanctions for one year during an Aug. 30 meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned seven people and four entities in China, Iran, Russia and Turkey for their involvement with Iran’s drone development and production. The agency also updated the existing entry for U.S.-sanctioned Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA) to add a new alias, saying that the company since last year has used the name Shahin Co. in contracts with overseas suppliers to evade U.S. sanctions and export controls.
A new Defense Department policy memo and guidance on foreign influence within American research institutions could exacerbate already complex export control due diligence challenges at universities, said Jackson Wood, director for industry strategy at Descartes. It also could lead to larger compliance risks for universities pursuing DOD-funded research, said Kit Conklin of compliance risk advisory firm Kharon.
The U.S. this week announced new Russia-related sanctions, designating more than 150 Russian business people, government officials, financial institutions, technology suppliers and foreign companies for supplying Russia with controlled goods or aiding the government. The sanctions include nearly 100 new designations imposed by the Treasury Department and more than 70 designations by the State Department and are designed to undermine Russia’s military supply chains, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
The EU updated a FAQ under its Russia sanctions regime covering whether Russian nationals may temporarily bring personal goods and vehicles, set out in Annex XXI, into the EU for touristic reasons. The FAQ was originally published last week, in which the bloc said no, noting that its regulations bar the purchase, import or transfer of goods in this annex if they originate in Russia or are exported from Russia (see 2309110018).
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The EU added a FAQ to its Russia sanctions guidance covering the "import, purchase & transfer of listed goods." The questions ask if a Russian national can temporarily bring personal goods and vehicles into the EU for tourism reasons. The bloc said no, clarifying that its regulations bar the "purchase, import, or transfer, directly or indirectly, of goods as listed in Annex XXI to the Regulation if they originate in Russia or are exported from Russia." This ban includes cars under CN code 8703.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned 11 people involved in the Russia-based Trickbot cybercrime group, which has targeted the U.S. government and American companies, the agency said. The designations target Andrey Zhuykov, a senior administrator with the group, along with other key members Maksim Galochkin, Maksim Rudenskiy, Mikhail Tsarev, Dmitry Putilin, Maksim Khaliullin, Sergey Loguntsov, Vadym Valiakhmetov, Artem Kurov, Mikhail Chernov and Alexander Mozhaev.
Government officials from the U.S., Australia, Canada, the EU, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and the U.K. met last week to discuss Russia-related sanctions enforcement and efforts to “bolster ongoing oligarch asset forfeiture initiatives,” the Treasury Department said. The countries, part of the multilateral Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs Task Force, said they have completed an “initial effort to map and account for Russian sovereign assets” that are frozen and held in REPO member jurisdictions, the agency said, totaling about $280 billion.