Every Monday we post the highlights out of last week’s FCC Export/Import Daily Update (“The Daily Bugle”). Send out every business day to approximately 6,500 readers of changes to defense and high-tech trade laws and regulations, The Daily Bugle is a free daily newsletter from Full Circle Compliance, edited by James E. Bartlett III, Alexander P. Bosch, Vincent J.A. Goossen, and Alex Witt.
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Last week’s highlights of The Daily Bugle included in this edition are:
- Treasury/OFAC Publishes Updated Advisory Highlighting Risks for Maritime Petroleum Shipping Community in Syria; The Daily Bugle; Monday, 25 Mar 2019, Item #8;
- Commerce/BIS: Arnoldo Antonio Arredondo of Beaumont, TX, Denied Export Privileges for Ten Years; The Daily Bugle; Tuesday, 26 Mar 2019, Item #2;
- Treasury/OFAC Settles Alleged Iranian Sanctions Violations by Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. and its Foreign Subsidiary, Jiangsu Guoqiang Tools Co., Ltd.; The Daily Bugle; Wednesday, 27 Mar 2019, Item #6;
- EU Council Amends Union General Export Authorization No EU001 to include UK; The Daily Bugle; Wednesday, 27 Mar 2019, Item #8;
- Australia Updates Defense and Strategic Goods List; The Daily Bugle; Thursday, 28 Mar 2019, Item #6;
- EU Amends List of Defense-Related Products”; The Daily Bugle; Friday, 29 Mar 2019, Item #6;
Last week’s highlights of The Daily Bugle included in this edition are:
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1. Treasury/OFAC Publishes Updated Advisory Highlighting Risks for Maritime Petroleum Shipping Community in Syria
(Source:Treasury/OFAC, 25 Mar 2019.)
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) updated its Advisory to the Maritime Petroleum Shipping Community to highlight risks associated with shipments to Syria. This advisory updates Treasury’s November 20, 2018 Advisory to include additional guidelines and risks associated with facilitating the shipment of petroleum destined for Syrian Government-owned and -operated ports, to include petroleum of Iranian origin. It adds dozens of new vessels involved in illicit oil shipments, including 16 shipping to Syria and more than 30 engaging in ship-to-ship transfers, and highlights concerns with shipments of petroleum from Iran.
“Treasury has previously exposed a far-reaching oil for terror network involving Iran and Syria, and continues to target ships and companies facilitating illicit trade. The United States has made it clear to the maritime shipping community that we will not tolerate the use of petroleum as a mechanism to finance rogue regimes in Iran and Syria. As Iran and Syria attempt to adapt their illicit tactics and shift to new vessels, we will continue to provide these updates to the shipping community,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Sigal Mandelker. “Shipping companies, insurers, vessel owners, managers, and operators must aggressively counter the ongoing deceptive shipping practices deployed by Iran and Syria and other questionable jurisdictions. Any violations of prohibitions or weaknesses in compliance that result in sanctionable conduct exposes the shipping community to significant risks and can trigger severe consequences.”
The new iteration of the Advisory includes major updates to its annex, which lists vessels that have delivered petroleum to Syria since 2016. The annex also includes vessels that have engaged in ship-to-ship (STS) transfers of petroleum likely destined for Syria, as well as vessels which have exported Syrian petroleum. Many of the names of the vessels have also been updated to reflect name changes.
– View Updated Syria Advisoryto the Maritime Petroleum Shipping Community
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2. Commerce/BIS: Arnoldo Antonio Arredondo of Beaumont, TX, Denied Export Privileges for Ten Years
(Source:Commerce/BIS, 26 Mar 2019.)
* Respondent: Arnoldo Antonio Arredondo, Selmer, TN
* Charges: On 28 November 2017, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Arnoldo Antonio Arredondo (“Arredondo”) was convicted of violating Section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. § 2778 (2012)) (“AECA”). Arredondo was convicted of violating Section 38 of the AECA by conspiring and agreeing with others to knowingly and willfully export and cause to be exported, from the United States Munitions List, without the required U.S. Department of State licenses. Arredondo was sentenced to 46 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and an assessment of $100.
* Debarred: Denied export privileges for ten years from the date of Arredondo’s conviction, until 28 November 2027.
* Date of Order: 25 Mar 2019
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3. Treasury/OFAC Settles Alleged Iranian Sanctions Violations by Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. and its Foreign Subsidiary, Jiangsu Guoqiang Tools Co., Ltd.
(Source:Treasury/OFAC, 27 Mar 2019.)
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced a $1,869,144 settlement with Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.(“Stanley Black & Decker”) and its foreign subsidiary, Jiangsu Guoqiang Tools Co., Ltd. (“GQ”). Stanley Black & Decker, a company based in New Britain, Connecticut, on behalf of itself and its subsidiary located in China, GQ, has agreed to settle its potential civil liability for 23 apparent violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 560 (ITSR). Specifically, between on or about June 29, 2013 and on or about December 30, 2014, GQ exported and attempted to export 23 shipments of power tools and spare parts, with a total value of $3,201,647.73, to Iran or to a third country with knowledge that such goods were intended specifically for supply, transshipment, or reexportation, directly or indirectly, to Iran, which would have been prohibited if engaged in by a U.S. person, under §§ 560.203 and 560.204 of the ITSR. These transactions appear to have violated § 560.215 of the ITSR. OFAC determined that Stanley Black & Decker voluntarily self-disclosed the apparent violations on behalf of GQ, and that the apparent violations constitute an egregious case.
For more information, please visit the following web notice
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4. EU Council Amends Union General Export Authorization No EU001 to include UK
(Source:Council of the European Union, 27 Mar 2019.)
The European Parliament and the European Council amended Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009 by granting a Union general export authorization for the export of certain dual-use items from the Union to the United Kingdom.
–Council Regulation (EU) 2019/496
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5. Australia Updates Defense and Strategic Goods List
(Source:Australia DoD/DEC, 28 Mar 2019.)
Australia Defense Export Controls (DEC) has published the below update on its website:
TheDefense and Strategic Goods List (DSGL) has been updated and came into effect on 28 March 2019. The DSGL 2019 (here) includes a total of 70 notable amendments: 23 are changes which remove or reduce the requirement to obtain an approval prior to export; 13 of the amendments are either new controls or changes to existing controls that result in an expanded scope; and the remaining 34 amendments are clarifications that do not involve a scope change. Details of these amendments are available in the Explanatory Statement (here). The Online DSGL Tool (here) is currently being updated to reflect the amendments made to the DSGL.
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6. EU Amends List of Defense-Related Products
(Source:Official Journal of the European Union, 29 Mar 2019.)
The European Commission has amended the list of Defense-Related Products. Consequently, the Annex to Directive 2009/43/EC is replaced by the text set out in the Annex to Directive (EU) 2019/514.
Directives
*Commission Directive (EU) 2019/514of 14 March 2019 amending Directive 2009/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the list of defense-related products