Latest Posts
Search for:
Author

Meghan Hamilton

Browsing

US – FEMA announces additional exemptions to restrictions on exports of certain medical supplies from the United States

By and 2 Mins Read

On June 14, 2021, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced new exemptions from a temporary final rule placing export restrictions on certain types of medical supplies and personal protection equipment products (“PPE Products“) used in response to the COVID-19 global health pandemic. The new exemptions include industrial N95 respirators, PPE surgical masks, and specific syringes and needles. The temporary final rule is set to expire on June 30, 2021. FEMA first imposed export restrictions on certain PPE Products…

US – OFAC amends Frequently Asked Questions related to TSRA, as well as the Sudan and Darfur Sanctions

By , and 3 Mins Read

On April 12, 2021, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued four amended Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to submissions made pursuant to the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (“TSRA”), as well as the Sudan Program and Darfur Sanctions. We summarize these FAQs below. FAQs Concerning TSRA FAQs 97 and 98 clarify the process for obtaining a TSRA license, as follows: FAQ 97 provides that OFAC only accepts license applications submitted online…

US – BIS updates reporting requirements relating to mass-market encryption items and publicly available software, and also updates certain classifications

By , and 4 Mins Read

On March 29, 2021, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a final rule (“Final Rule”) implementing changes to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) that were agreed to at the December 2019 Wassenaar Arrangement Plenary meeting. Specifically, the Final Rule modified the reporting and self-classification requirements for exports of most mass-market encryption items and the email notification requirement for exports of publicly available encryption source code and beta test software. The…

US Government imposes new sanctions on Russia, designates several Russian technology companies and other persons, bans US financial institutions from dealing in Ruble-denominated Russian sovereign debt, and issues updated guidance and FAQs on PEESA and on US arms embargo on Russia

By , and 8 Mins Read

In the past several days, the US Government has issued a slew of sanctions measures targeting Russia. These represent the first major escalation of sanctions against Russia under the Biden Administration and, according to a White House Fact Sheet, are stated to be in response to Russia’s “harmful foreign activities,” including efforts to undermine free and fair democratic elections and institutions, malicious cyber activities (including the recent SolarWinds incident), transnational corruption, targeting of dissidents and journalists,…

US – Annual increase in civil monetary penalties for US Treasury, State, and Commerce Departments

By and 4 Mins Read

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the US State Department (State), and the US Commerce Department (Commerce) issued rules adjusting maximum civil monetary penalties (CMPs) under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (FCA), as outlined below. (For additional years of CMPs, see our previous blog post available here.) OFAC CMP Adjustments Under OFAC’s final rule published on March 17, 2021, the adjusted penalties apply to CMPs that are assessed…

US – BIS amends the EAR to enhance certain end-use and end-user controls as well as controls on certain activities of US Persons

By , and 7 Mins Read

On January 15, 2021, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published an interim final rule (“Rule”) amending various provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement certain provisions of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA).  Among other things further outlined below, the Rule imposes new restrictions on specific activities of US persons. By way of brief background, the EAR generally controls transactions involving US origin items (i.e., goods, software, technology) regardless of whether…

OFAC issues General License 1A concerning restrictions on Communist Chinese Military Companies and related FAQs

By , and 3 Mins Read

On January 27, 2021, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General License 1A, “Authorizing Transactions Involving Securities of Certain Communist Chinese Military Companies,” (“GL 1A”) in relation to OFAC’s Communist Chinese Military Companies (“CCMCs”) sanctions program as implemented pursuant to Executive Order 13959 (“EO 13959”) and amended by Executive Order 13974. OFAC concurrently published frequently asked questions (FAQs) 878 and 879, which clarify OFAC’s previous guidance on subsidiary entities with names that “closely match”…

US enacts NDAA 2021 with additional sanctions against Turkey, Russia, and China

By , and 6 Mins Read

On January 1, 2021, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (the “NDAA 2021”) was enacted into law after the US Congress voted to override the President’s veto of the bill. The defense budget legislation authorizes $740.5 billion for national defense spending and sets policies on military compensation, procurement of equipment, operations, and training. In addition, similar to most National Defense Authorization Acts in recent years, the NDAA 2021 includes provisions regarding sanctions and export…

US – BIS amends Country Groups for Ukraine, Mexico, and Cyprus under the EAR

By , and 3 Mins Read

On December 28, 2020, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued a final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) to revise the Country Group designations for Ukraine, Mexico, and Cyprus. BIS has placed these countries’ into more permissive Country Groups due to these countries’ membership in multilateral export control regimes, as well as national security interests and policies compatible with those of the United States. The impact of these changes is…

US Government removes Sudan from State Sponsor of Terrorism list

By , and 4 Mins Read

On December 14, 2020, the US Government announced Sudan’s removal from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (the “SST List”).  This rescission of Sudan as an SST follows an agreement in October for Sudan to be removed from the list and the lapse of a 45 day congressional notification period. The federal register notice regarding the rescission is available here. As detailed in our previous blog post here, the US Government revoked Sudan sanctions in October 2017, but Sudan’s…