Turkey recently imposed an export ban on milk powder, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said, the latest in a series of measures this year to restrict agricultural products leaving the market in order to stabilize domestic prices amid inflation. The export ban applies to milk powders both with fat and skimmed milk, the agency said, and runs from mid-September through the end of the year. The country previously banned and then lifted export restrictions on butter and olive oil (see 2207210009).
Oracle Corporation will pay more than $23 million to settle charges it violated parts of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act when its Turkish, Emirati and Indian subsidiaries used slush funds to bribe foreign officials for business from 2016 to 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced. The company agreed to pay around $8 million in disgorgement and a $15 million penalty, along with agreeing to "cease and desist" from violating the anti-bribery, books and records and internal accounting controls elements of the FCPA, SEC said. Oracle did so without admitting or denying the SEC findings.
With the price cap on Russian oil products set to take effect in December, trade and commodity experts expressed concern during a Sept. 9 panel at Brookings Institution. In his announcement of the measures, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said the aim of the price cap is to limit profits from Russian oil sales and cut into revenue generated for Russia but in a way that won't cut into the overall availability of oil products. The cap will work by targeting services supporting ocean shipping, such as insurance and brokers.
Russian sanctions and export control evasion attempts are still ongoing. Companies need to remain vigilant across a wide range of areas to minimize their risk of enabling evasion, experts said during a Sept. 1 webinar discussion hosted by the Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists (ACSS).
Turkey will begin to implement rulings from a World Trade Organization dispute panel and arbitrators' finding that certain Turkish measures over the production, importation and marketing of pharmaceutical products weren't in line with WTO rules, the WTO said Aug. 29. Giving an update of the proceeding at the Aug. 29 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body, Turkey said it has begun to look at options for implementing the rulings but said it needs a "reasonable period of time to ensure implementation."
The European Commission will implement the findings of the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body on the EU's safeguard measures on imports of certain steel products, the EC said Aug. 24. The commission said it will bring its safeguard measure into conformity with the WTO Agreement on Safeguards and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, inviting comments from interested parties by Sept. 14.
The World Trade Organization published the agenda for the Aug. 29 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body. It includes U.S. status reports on the implementation of recommendations adopted by the DSB on antidumping measures on certain hot-rolled steel products from Japan; antidumping and countervailing measures on large residential washers from South Korea; certain methodologies and their application to antidumping proceedings involving China; and Section 110(5) of the U.S. Copyright Act. A status report also is expected from Indonesia on measures relating to the import of horticultural products, animals and animal products, and from the EU on measures affecting the approval and marketing of biotech products. Turkey will report on the implementation of the DSB's recommendations on its measures on the production, importation and marketing of pharmaceutical products.
The Treasury Department warned Turkish businesses this week that they may be hit with U.S. sanctions if they do business with designated Russian people or entities, The Wall Street Journal reported Aug. 22. In letters to the American Chamber of Commerce in Turkey and the Turkey Industry and Business Association, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo warned Turkish companies that they will be cut off from American banks if they do business with sanctioned Russian banks.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week issued a new set of frequently asked questions covering the Entity List, Russia-related export controls and Russia-related sanctions evasion.
Arif Ugur, a Turkish national indicted last year for his role in illegally shipping defense technical data to Turkey (see 2107260014), pleaded guilty to the charges this week, DOJ said: two counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act and one count of conspiring to violate the AECA, along with two counts of wire fraud. Ugur faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for violating the AECA, and up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiring to violate the AECA.