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, Sven Goor, and Alex Witt.
We check the following sources daily: Federal Register, Congressional Record, Commerce/AES, Commerce/BIS, DHS/CBP, DOE/NRC, DOJ/ATF, DoD/DSS, DoD/DTSA, FAR/DFARS, State/DDTC, Treasury/OFAC, White House, and similar websites of Australia, Canada, U.K., and other countries and international organizations. Due to space limitations, we do not post Arms Sales notifications, Denied Party listings, or Customs AD/CVD items. To subscribe, click here.
Last week’s highlights of The Daily Bugle included in this edition are:
- Commerce/BIS Denies Export Privileges to Olaf Tepper of Philipsburg, PA; The Daily Bugle; Monday 8 July 2019, Item #1;
- German BAFA Publishes Guidance on Export Control in Science and Research; The Daily Bugle; Monday, 8 July 2019, Item #7;
- USTR Announces Exclusions Granted on Additional Duties on Chinese Goods; The Daily Bugle; Tuesday 9 July 2019, Item #1;
- Singapore Customs Publishes Advisory Concerning Customs Requirements & Best Practices; The Daily Bugle; Thursday 11 July 2019, Item #9;
- Justice: “Palm Beach County Resident Charged with Export Control Violations for Illegally Exporting Hundreds of Parts for AR-15 Assault Rifles”; The Daily Bugle; Friday, 12 July 2019, Item #4;
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1. Commerce/BIS Denies Export Privileges to Olaf Tepper of Philipsburg, PA
(Source: Federal Register, 8 Jul 2019.) [Summary.]
84 FR 32413-32414: Order Denying Export Privileges
* Respondent: Olaf Tepper of Philipsburg, PA.
* Charges: violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C Sec. 1701, et seq. (2012)) (“IEEPA”). Specifically, Tepper was convicted of willfully conspiring to export and cause to be exported from the United States to Germany gas turbine parts, with knowledge and reason to know that such goods were intended specifically for re-exportation, directly and indirectly, to Iran, without having first obtained the required authorization from the U.S Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
* Penalty: 24 months in prison, a fine of $5,000, an assessment of $400, and denied export privileges for a period of 10 years from the date of his conviction.
* Date of Order: 28 Jun 2019.
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2. German BAFA Publishes Guidance on Export Control in Science and Research
(Source: German BAFA, 5 Jul 2019.) [Excerpts.]
This publication is aimed at professors, scientists and scientific staff at universities and non-university research institutions as well as representatives of these organizations working in the field of “export control and research activities“. It deals, in particular, with the rights and obligations that apply in this area. While scientific freedom is enshrined in the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany („Grundgesetz“), research activities must nevertheless comply with the provisions of export control.
The publication was created with the cooperation of organizations including the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, the Leibniz Institute DSMZ, the Robert Koch Institute and the Technical University of Berlin. BAFA is grateful for their participation.
We should point out that this publication cannot cover all possible aspects of the subject matter and therefore does not claim to be exhaustive. Reading this publication does not relieve you of the responsibility of reviewing export control regulations. However, it does offer wide-ranging advice, especially with regard to finding relevant information and means of communicating with BAFA.
Download the document here.
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3. USTR Announces Exclusions Granted on Additional Duties on Chinese Goods
(Source: Federal Register, 9 Jul 2019.) [Excerpts.]
84 FR 32821-32826: Notice of Product Exclusions: China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation
* AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
* ACTION: Notice of product exclusions.
* SUMMARY: Effective July 6, 2018, the U.S. Trade Representative (Trade Representative) imposed additional duties on goods of China with an annual trade value of approximately $34 billion (the $34 billion action) as part of the action in the Section 301 investigation of China’s acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation.
The Trade Representative’s determination included a decision to establish a product exclusion process. The Trade Representative initiated the exclusion process in July 2018, and stakeholders have submitted requests for the exclusion of specific products. In December 2018, March 2019, April 2019, May 2019, and June 2019, the Trade Representative granted exclusion requests. This notice announces the Trade Representative’s determination to grant additional exclusion requests, as specified in the Annex to this notice. The Trade Representative will continue to issue decisions on pending requests on a periodic basis.
* DATES: The product exclusions announced in this notice will apply as of the July 6, 2018 effective date of the $34 billion action, and will extend for one year after the publication of this notice. U.S. Customs and Border Protection will issue instructions on entry guidance and implementation.
* FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general questions about this notice, contact Assistant General Counsels Philip Butler or Megan Grimball, or Director of Industrial Goods Justin Hoffmann at (202) 395-5725. For specific questions on customs classification or implementation of the product exclusions identified in the Annex to this notice, contact traderemedy@cbp.dhs.gov.
* SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: …
Effective July 6, 2018, the Trade Representative imposed additional 25 percent duties on goods of China classified in 818 8-digit subheadings of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), with an approximate annual trade value of $34 billion. See 83 FR 28710. The Trade Representative’s determination included a decision to establish a process by which U.S. stakeholders may request exclusion of particular products classified within an 8-digit HTSUS subheading covered by the $34 billion action from the additional duties. The Trade Representative issued a notice setting out the process for the product exclusions, and opened a public docket. See 83 FR 32181 (the July 11 notice). …
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4. Singapore Customs Publishes Advisory Concerning Customs Requirements & Best Practices
(Source: Singapore Customs, 11 July 2019.)
Singapore Customs has released the following document(s) on its website:Circulars
* Circular No: 11/2019; Advisory: Customs Requirements & Best Practices for Import of Goods
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5. Justice: “Palm Beach County Resident Charged with Export Control Violations for Illegally Exporting Hundreds of Parts for AR-15 Assault Rifles”
(Source: Justice, 12 Jul 2019.) [Excerpts.]
A Palm Beach County resident was arrested on July 11, 2019, based on a complaint charging him with conspiracy to violate and attempted violations of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) (18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 22 U.S.C. §§ 2778).
Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
Cristian German Barrera, 47, was charged with conspiracy to violate the AECA and ITAR, and attempts to illegally export to Argentina defense articles, specifically, parts and components for AR-15 assault rifles, which were smuggled across international borders by a transnational weapons trafficking group in Argentina. He had an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Becerra.
According to the complaint and other court documents, Barrera illegally exported without a required license from the U.S. Department of State, to the Argentine weapons trafficking organization, hundreds of AR-15 assault rifle parts. The investigative efforts of HSI agents in the Miami Field Office along with HSI agents stationed in Argentina, and their proactive cooperation with Argentine law enforcement officials between October and December 2019, led to the execution of search warrants in Florida and Argentina that resulted in the seizure of the equivalent of 52 AR-15 assault rifles in Florida and in Argentina: 189 long arms, 156 handguns, one mortar round, one hand grenade, over 30,000 rounds of assorted caliber ammunition, five vehicles, and $110,000 in cash. On June 26, 2019, Argentina’s National Gendarmeria conducted an operation that led to the arrest of additional subjects and the seizure of thousands of firearms and explosive materials.