The scope of the two Open General Export Licences (OGEL) for security items has been further refined and amendments to the OGELs were on Wednesday (26 May 2021) published by the Department for International Trade in a Notice to Exporters. The updated OGELs permit the export of low risk information security items that rely on encryption technologies listed in Schedule 1 to each OGEL. The new Information Security OGELs cover a significantly wider range of items than the…
On March 11, 2021, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a notice [Docket Number USTR–2021–0001; Dispute Number DS597] requesting comments on Hong Kong, China’s request for the establishment of a dispute settlement panel under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO Agreement) [WTO Document WT/DS597/5]. USTR invites written comments concerning the issues raised in this dispute. All submissions must be in English and sent electronically…
On January 15, 2021, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published in the Federal Register a final rule adding regulations (31 C.F.R. Part 585) to implement Executive Order (E.O.) 13936 of July 14, 2020. OFAC intends to supplement these regulations with a more comprehensive set of regulations, which may include additional interpretive and definitional guidance, general licenses, and statements of licensing policy. In E.O. 13936, the President determined that, pursuant to section 202 of…
On January 19, 2021, the Commerce Department published an interim final rule to implement President Trump’s 2019 Executive Order 13873 on “Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain” (“Interim Rule”). The Interim Rule was issued following the closure of the public comment period on January 10, 2021 on the proposed rules issued on November 27, 2019 (“Proposed Rules”) to implement Executive Order 13873. For more information on Executive Order 13873 and the Proposed Rules, please see our blog…
On December 23, 2020, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), in further implementation of Executive Order 13936 (EO 13936), to remove provisions that provide differential and preferential treatment for exports, reexports, and transfers of items to Hong Kong as compared to China. As a result of these changes, Hong Kong will be removed as a separate destination on the Commerce Country Chart and in other places in the EAR, which…
On August 11, 2020, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a general notice [CBP Dec. 20-15] that notifies the public that, in light of the President’s Executive Order 13936 on Hong Kong Normalization (EO), issued on July 14, 2020, suspending the application of section 201(a) of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 to the marking statute, section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1304), with respect to imported goods produced in Hong Kong,…
CBP has posted Frequently Asked Questions – Guidance on Marking of Goods of Hong Kong – Executive Order 13936 on its website. The FAQs state that: Goods that are not marked properly after the transition period may be brought into a Foreign Trade Zone to be properly marked under a permit to manipulate issued by the Port Director.Similarly, goods which are improperly or falsely marked may be brought into an FTZ under a permit to…
On August 11, 2020, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a general notice [CBP Dec. 20-15] that notifies the public that, in light of the President’s Executive Order 13936 on Hong Kong Normalization, issued on July 14, 2020, suspending the application of section 201(a) of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 to the marking statute, section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1304), with respect…
On August 11, 2020, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will publish in the Federal Register a general notice [CBP Dec. 20-15] that notifies the public that, in light of the President’s Executive Order 13936 on Hong Kong Normalization, issued on July 14, 2020, suspending the application of section 201(a) of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 to the marking statute, section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1304), with…
On 28 July 2020, the EU agreed to impose EU-wide measures to restrict the export of certain items to Hong Kong. The EU Council’s press release can be found here. These restricted goods include equipment or technology that could be used for internal repression, interception of internal communications or cyber surveillance. Like recent US and UK measures, the new EU export controls have been proposed in response to the recent HK National Security Law. Germany has…