The Group of Seven nations intends to implement a price cap on Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products, according to a joint statement released Sept. 2 by the G-7 Finance Ministers from their summit in Elmau, Germany. The statement included plans to implement a "comprehensive prohibition of services" that support maritime transportation of Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products, based on "a recordkeeping and attestation model" covering relevant contracts. The G-7 said that they were urgently working to finalize and implement the measure in their own jurisdictions through domestic legal processes while building support internationally for the measure.
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).
New export restrictions on microchips from NVIDIA, AMD and potentially other chipmakers come amid “a review of existing policies related to China and will potentially seek to employ a variety of legal, regulatory, and, when relevant, enforcement tools to keep advanced technologies out of the wrong hands,” a Bureau of Industry and Security spokesman said when reached for comment Sept. 1.
The Federal Maritime Commission should issue an emergency order requiring carriers and terminal operators to share more information on cargo availability with shippers and other carriers, more than a dozen motor carriers and logistics companies said. The companies, most of which move freight at the Port of New York and New Jersey, said inadequate information sharing has created an emergency that is hurting their operations and restricting cargo from moving efficiently.
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The Bureau of Industry and Security on Aug. 26 issued a temporary denial order barring a Belgian company and its owner for fraudulently attempting to acquire accelerometers from the U.S. on behalf of prohibited end-users in China. BIS said it suspended export privileges for Knokke-Heist Support Corporation Management (also known as Hasa-Invest) and Hans De Geetere after their “false statements made to U.S. companies to obtain the items” raised “significant concerns of future violations.”
As the Federal Maritime Commission considers reversing its rulemaking from 2018, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America is arguing that unreasonable practices should continue to be subject to enforcement only if they are "normal, customary and continuous."
The recent surge in U.S. sanctions and export controls on Russia is causing resource strains for compliance teams, KPMG lawyers said during a webinar last week. Constantly expanding restricted party lists, as well as due diligence requirements under the Commerce Department’s military end-user rules, have become increasingly time-consuming and expensive to comply with, the lawyers said.
Several companies recently disclosed their filings with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. or updated the status of their ongoing CFIUS reviews.
The U.S. should update its export control process, specifically around licensing, to better boost the competitiveness of the space industrial base, government officials and industry representatives said. Some in industry said U.S. companies often face burdensome licensing requirements compared with foreign competitors, which hurt their standing in global markets.