Turkey, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Ukraine have aligned themselves with the European Union's sanctions regime on Guinea-Bissau, the European Council said in a Sept. 8 news release. On Aug. 5, the EC dropped two individuals, Navy Cmdr. Bion Na Tchongo and Capt. Paulo Sunsai, from the sanctions regime. Both listings originally were made in 2012 (see 2108100012). The aligning countries will "ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision," the EC said.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Aug. 30 - Sept.3 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in a readout of an Aug. 25 call with Turkey's Trade Minister Mehmet Mus, said that she argued that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's discussions on international taxation are the best way to resolve the issues that led countries to want to impose digital services taxes. The USTR has said that 32 subheadings of Turkish imports could face tariffs if Turkey imposes a DST. The value of goods on the list imported in 2019 was $310 million.

A California electronics company was fined $6.6 million by the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls after it illegally exported technical data and software to more than 15 countries, including China, DDTC said Aug. 9. DDTC said Keysight Technologies, which makes electronic test and measurement equipment and software, committed 24 violations of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, including unauthorized exports while the companies still had an outstanding commodity jurisdiction request pending with the State Department.

The European Commission amended a countervailing duty order on rainbow trout imports from Turkey on Aug. 3, finding that an exporter with an individual CVD rate could still receive this rate following a name change. BAFA Su Urunleri Yavru Uretim Merkezi Sanayi Ticaret AS, an exporter with a 1.5% individual CVD rate, told the commission that after combining with its parent company, it changed its name to Kilic Deniz Urunleri Uretimi Ihracat Ithalat ve Ticaret A.S. The commission found the name change to be properly registered, keeping the 1.5% rate for Kilic.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a range of sanctions targeting people and entities in Syria and Turkey for human rights abuses or for funding terrorism, OFAC said July 28. The first set of sanctions targeted Turkey-based al-Qaida financial facilitator Hasan Al-Shaban and Syria-based terrorism fundraiser Farrukh Furkatovitch Fayzimatov. Other designations targeted eight Syrian prisons controlled by the Bashar al-Assad regime, five senior Syrian security officials, the Syrian armed group Ahrar al-Sharqiya and Syria military intelligence agencies. OFAC also revised two existing Syria-related entries on its Specially Designated Nationals List.

Arif Ugur, a Turkish national formerly living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was indicted July 21 for his role in illegally shipping defense technical data to Turkey for the production of U.S. military parts, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a news release. Ugur's actions were found to have violated the Arms Export Control Act. The Department of Defense found that some goods were substandard and not fit for use by the U.S. military, the release said. As sole managing officer of the Anatolia Group, Ugur, beginning in 2015 acquired various DOD contracts to provide the military with machine parts and hardware items, the Department of Justice alleged. The contracts required that the parts be manufactured in the U.S. Ugur claimed Anatolia made its parts stateside, when it actually made them in Turkey, Justice said. Ugur then oversaw the shipment of DOD technical data to Anatolia's facilities in Turkey -- a move that required an export license seeing as they were subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulation and the United States Munitions List. He did not acquire these licenses, violating the Arms Export Control Act, Justice said.

The State Department will push for a “strong response” from the United Nations for Turkey’s continued interference in Cyprus territory and urged Turkey to reverse its illegal development of the Varosha coastline, the agency said July 20. The U.S. is working with allies to urge a United Nations Security Council response but warned against “provocative unilateral actions that increase tensions on the island.” A bipartisan group of senators last week asked the Biden administration to impose sanctions on Turkey for its activities in Cyprus (see 2107150012).

A bipartisan group of senators urged President Joe Biden to consider sanctions if Turkey continues to interfere in Cyprus' territory. The U.S. should work with the European Union to “make clear” that Turkey’s continued attempts to develop the Varosha coastline will be met with multilateral sanctions, the senators said in a July 14 letter. “The U.S. and the EU should make clear to President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan that continuing to violate [United Nations Security Council] Resolutions and the rule of law is unacceptable,” said the senators, headed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J.

The Bureau of Industry and Security will add 34 entities under 43 entries to the Entity List July 12. Of the 43 entries, two are located in Canada, 23 are located in China, two are located in Iran, two are located in Lebanon, one is located in the Netherlands, one is located in Pakistan, six are located in Russia, one is located in Singapore, one is located in South Korea, one is located in Taiwan, one is located in Turkey, one is located in the United Arab Emirates and one is located in the United Kingdom, it said.