The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls made changes this week to its pending payment notification email message text. DDTC said the updates “clarify the instructions on how to proceed with making payments, ensuring a smoother and more user-friendly experience.”
The State Department is accepting applications for its Defense Export Controls and Compliance System 2024 User Group, which will provide feedback to the agency on DECCS functionality and suggest potential improvements. The agency’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will appoint 50 industry volunteers to the user group, all of whom must be enrolled with DECCS and represent companies, government agencies or third-party organizations involved in defense trade. Member terms will last one year. Applicants should email PM_DDTCProjectTeam@state.gov by close of business Feb. 29 with their name and company or government affiliation. DDTC will make its selections by March 31.
En-Wei Eric Chang, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Taiwan, pleaded guilty Jan. 31 to conspiracy to export defense materials to Iran.
Michael Vaccaro is the new leader of the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, DDTC announced this week. Vaccaro, whose formal title is deputy assistant secretary for defense trade, started in the new role Jan. 16. He was most recently the principal deputy assistant secretary for industrial base policy at the Defense Department, and he also previously worked at the Bureau of Industry and Security, where he oversaw defense trade programs. Vaccaro is the first permanent head of DDTC since Mike Miller left the agency in 2022 to become the deputy director of DOD’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (see 2212120004).
Electronics distribution company Broad Tech System and its president and owner, Tao Jiang of Riverside, California, pleaded guilty Jan. 11 to participating in a conspiracy to illegally ship chemicals made or distributed by a Rhode Island-based company to a Chinese firm with ties to the Chinese military, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Rhode Island announced. Jiang and Broad Tech admitted to violating the Export Control Act and conspiring to commit money laundering.
Export Compliance Daily is providing this recap of export control and sanctions enforcement over the past year to assist export compliance professionals, lawyers and others in keeping pace with current enforcement trends. This guide summarizes the most notable enforcement actions by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Department of Justice since Jan. 1, 2023.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week expanded its export controls against Russia and Belarus to cover a broader range of items and Harmonized System codes, including more industrial materials and aircraft parts. The agency also added new controls to better restrict exports used in Iran’s drone production, revised the de minimis treatment for certain military and spacecraft-related items, added a new license requirement exclusion and more.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is seeking public comments on an information collection involving notices of “material change” to a DDTC-registered company. Any company making or marketing items controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and registered with DDTC must notify the agency “in the event of a change in registration information,” or if the company is a party to an ITAR-related merger, acquisition or divestiture, DDTC said. The agency said it needs this information “to ensure registration records are accurate and to determine whether the transaction is in compliance with the regulations.” Comments are due March 18.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is working on a new final rule that could add to its list of proscribed countries under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Those countries are generally subject to an export license review policy of denial. DDTC sent the rule for interagency review Jan. 12.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.