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.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is looking to speed up its processing of advisory opinion requests, a government official said during the Bureau of Industry and Security's annual conference last week.
Fares Abdo Al Eyani of Oakland, California, was sentenced March 29 to 12 months and a day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for "conspiring to export defense articles and attempting to export defense articles" to Oman, DOJ announced.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is working on a host of proposed or final regulations that could be published in the next few months, officials said last week, including revisions to its defense services controls and an exemption for certain defense trade with Australia and the U.K.
U.S. export controls on clean technology goods to China would likely be “ineffective” and could backfire on American businesses trying to develop the next generation of green energy products, a researcher for a major European think tank said in a new report this month. The report argues that solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies don’t warrant new controls because they have “no dual-use or human-rights applications,” and restrictions could further strain the already fraught U.S.-China relationship.
The State Department on March 22 completed a round of interagency review for a proposed rule that could make changes to registration fees under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The agency had sent the rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Oct. 17 (see 2310190005). An agency official last year said the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls was preparing to soon propose changes to those fees (see 2310120063).
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls published new guidance this week to clarify how and when joint ventures must be included on registration statements. The new frequently asked questions cover companies subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and that are governed by a joint venture agreement.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will again change the export control threshold for certain high-energy storage capacitors to remove license requirements from capacitors that are widely commercially available and no longer provide military or intelligence advantages. The change, outlined in a final rule published March 25 and effective April 24, decontrols certain capacitors with a voltage rating of 500 volts or less.
The U.S. announced new export controls against Nicaragua this week in response to human rights abuses by the country's government and its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The measures, outlined in two final rules effective March 15, will put in place stronger Commerce Department export licensing requirements for Nicaragua and add the country to a list of nations maintained by the State Department that generally don’t receive license approvals for controlled defense items.
Preparations continue for a jury trial set for April 1 in a criminal arms smuggling case involving the constitutionality of "specially designed" provisions in U.S. export controls (U.S. v. Quadrant Magnetics, LLC, W.D. Ky. # 3:22-CR-88-DJH).