A new set of export controls on U.S. persons activities and other transactions could require “dramatic expansions” to some companies’ internal compliance programs, Akin Gump said this month, including additional compliance training, end-user certifications and greater due diligence of suppliers and customers.
Trade groups, lawyers, investment firms, technology companies and foreign governments suggested a range of changes to the Treasury Department’s proposed outbound investment rules (see 2406210034), echoing calls last year for more clarity surrounding the due-diligence steps that will be required of deal-makers and warning that the U.S. risks chilling a broad range of U.S. ventures in China (see 2310050035). Several commenters also urged the Biden administration not to finalize the new prohibitions without similar buy-in from allies, with at least one group suggesting the U.S. is further from coordinating the rules among trading partners than it has let on.
The Pentagon should drop its outdated approach to technology security and export controls and allow American defense companies to work more efficiently with U.S. allies, a Defense Department advisory committee said in a new report this month. The committee said the agency needs major revisions to the way it treats restrictions under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, warning that DOD is “failing to address shortcomings in international engagement amid a rapidly evolving global security landscape.”
New rules from the Commerce and State departments could lead to a range of new restrictions on U.S. support for certain foreign military intelligence and security services, increasing export licensing requirements for activities that could give U.S. adversaries a “critical military or intelligence advantage.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security is expanding its export controls to make more items subject to license requirements under its Iran foreign direct product rule, increasing its Iran-related restrictions under the Export Administration Regulations. The final rule, which was released July 24 but took effect July 23, implements certain provisions in the wide-ranging national security bill President Joe Biden signed into law in April (see 2404240043).
The Commerce Department’s spring 2024 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security features a range of upcoming rules that could update and expand U.S. export control regulations, including new controls on the activities of U.S. persons in support of foreign military and intelligence agencies, revised regulatory language to address “diversion concerns,” new multilateral restrictions on emerging technologies and broader license requirements for Pakistan.
A Hallandale, Florida, resident was charged on July 2 with smuggling controlled goods into Russia from the U.S. Kirill Gordei, president of Florida-based freight forwarding company Apelsin Logistics, faces three counts -- conspiracy to commit offenses against the U.S., smuggling goods from the U.S. and exporting a spectrometer, a controlled item, unlawfully -- DOJ announced. A Belarus citizen and U.S. permanent resident, Gordei faces maximums of five, 10 and 20 years in prison for the charges, respectively.
Indiana University will avoid a fine but must meet several government-imposed export compliance commitments after it illegally exported genetically modified fruit flies carrying a controlled toxin, the Bureau of Industry and Security announced this week. The school voluntarily disclosed the illegal exports and admitted to 42 violations of the Export Administration Regulations, BIS said, which helped IU avoid a monetary penalty.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued two temporary denial orders last week as part of the Biden administration's latest package of Russia-related sanctions and export controls (see 2406120036), targeting companies and people in the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Hong Kong, the British Virgin Islands, Turkey and Indonesia for sending export controlled items to Russia.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is drafting an interim final rule that could introduce a new “Plurilateral Consensus Coalition” country group into the Export Administration Regulations. The rule, sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs June 11, would make additions and revisions to the Commerce Control List and put in place a new License Exception Plurilateral Consensus Coalition (PCC) for certain exports to countries in the coalition.