The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a 180-day temporary denial order Dec. 13 against three people and two companies for illegally sending controlled exports to Russia as part of a Moscow-led sanctions evasion scheme. Along with the denial order, DOJ indicted the three individuals, along with others, on charges related to the illegal exports, including money laundering, wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiring to defraud the U.S.

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.

Arif Ugur, a Cambridge, Massachusetts, resident, was sentenced to 33 months in prison and two years of supervised release for scheming to illegally export defense technical data to manufacturers in Turkey in violation of the Arms Export Control Act, DOJ announced Dec. 15. The technical data related to the "fraudulent manufacturing of parts and components used by the U.S. military" -- parts the Defense Department later found to be "substandard and unsuitable for use by the military."

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week renewed the temporary denial order for Belavia Belarusian Airlines, Belarus' state-owned national airline. BIS first suspended the export privileges of the airline in June (see 2206160015), barring it from participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The agency renewed the denial order for another 180 days on Dec. 13 after finding Belavia continues to illegally operate aircraft subject to the EAR, including for flights between Russia, Belarus, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

The World Trade Organization issued a series of four rulings Dec. 9 finding that the U.S. Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs set by President Donald Trump violated global trade rules. In the landmark rulings, a three-person panel found that the duties violated Articles I, II, XI and XXI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The dispute panel said the tariffs, which the Trump administration said were needed to maintain U.S. national security, were not "taken in time of war or other emergency in international relations," as mandated by Article XXI(b)(iii) of national security protections, so the duties violate the GATT.

A large Israeli trade delegation arrived in Turkey Dec. 5 to meet with exporters, representing a thaw in relations between the two nations, Bloomberg reported. The two-day meeting will see representatives from around 60 Israeli companies meet with the Turkish exporters, hosted by the Turkish Exporters' Assembly. “The recent normalization of Turkey’s relations with Israel reflects positively on the trade relations of the two countries,” the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly said in a statement.

DOJ unsealed a 15-count indictment Nov. 29 charging Madison County, Alabama, resident Ray Hunt with conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran, defrauding the U.S., smuggling goods from the U.S., and submitting false export information, the department announced. Hunt faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, up to five years for the count of conspiracy, 10 for the smuggling charge and another five for the false information charge.

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week renewed the temporary denial order for Russia's Rossiya Airlines. BIS first suspended the export privileges of the airline in May (see 2205200008), barring it from participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The agency renewed the denial order for another 180 days on Nov. 15 after finding Rossiya continues to illegally operate aircraft subject to the EAR, including for flights between Russia and Turkey.

World Trade Organization members mulled over five regional trade agreements at the Nov. 14 meeting of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements, the WTO said. The agreements are between South Korea and Turkey, for services, and between Kenya and the U.K., the U.K. and Israel, the U.K. and Egypt, and the U.K. and Mexico, for goods.

Russia is set to abide by a new deal, brokered by the U.N., allowing Ukrainian grain and other farm products to be exported via the Black Sea, Bloomberg reported Nov. 15. Russia will let the deal renew after it expires Nov. 19, individuals familiar with the situation told Bloomberg, though they didn't specify whether Russia would look to add new conditions in return for the extension. Turkey and the U.N. brokered the original 120-day deal allowing Ukraine to resume its seaborne exports from its ports after Russia's invasion. The new accord would enact a 120-day extension unless one of the parties pulls out or modifies it, Bloomberg said. The U.N. said it will help ensure unimpeded exports of Russian food and fertilizers.