U.S. EXPORT CONTROL AND SANCTIONS UPDATE
On May 19, 2023, both the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the agency that promulgates and administers U.S. sanctions, and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the agency that promulgates and administers U.S. export controls, announced new controls designed to “further degrade the Russian Federation’s capacity to wage war against Ukraine” and to “continue efforts to impose powerful and coordinated restrictions on Russia for its ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine”.
BIS/Export Controls
BIS released two rules, effective May 19, 2023, that expand controls to additional items in alignment with international partners and allies, and added 71 entities to the Entity List, primarily for supporting Russia’s military and defense sectors.
1. The first rule is intended to make the existing Russian and Belarusian Industry Sector Sanctions stronger, more effective, and easier to understand and comply with, by adding license requirements for additional items, as outlined in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), to align U.S. controls further with controls implemented by U.S. partners and allies.
a. The rule adds the remaining HTS-6 Codes under three entire harmonized tariff system chapters (Chapters 84, 85, and 90; now over 2,000 total entries) to the industrial and commercial controls listed in Supplement No. 4 to Part 746 of the EAR so that every HTS-6 Code under these three chapters is now controlled. The items added in the rule include a variety of electronics, instruments, and advanced fibers for the reinforcement of composite materials, including carbon fibers.
b. The rule also adds certain additional chemicals to Supplement No. 6 to part 746 of the EAR, which consists of discrete chemicals, biologics, fentanyl and its precursors, and related equipment designated EAR99.
c. The rule expands the list of foreign-produced items in Supplement No. 7 to part 746 of the EAR that require a license when destined to Russia, Belarus, and Iran.
d. Finally, the rule also expands the destination scope of the Russia/Belarus Foreign-Direct Product Rule (FDPR), as well as other conforming changes. The rule applies the Russia/Belarus FDPR to the “temporarily occupied” Crimea region of Ukraine. The political implications of this weighted reference cannot be ignored. As a reminder, the FDPR makes certain goods produced outside of the United States “subject to the EAR” based on the incorporation/use of certain U.S.-origin technology and/or software, either in the good itself or in the plant in which the good was produced, and based on the knowledge that such good was intended for certain end-users or destinations, or that certain end-users were associated with the proposed export transaction.
The full text of the rule is available here: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2023-10774/additional-sanctions-against-russia-and-belarus-under-the-export-administration-regulations-and.
2. The second rule adds a total of 71 entities to the Entity List, including 69 entities in Russia and one entity each in Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
a. The 69 Russian entities are added to the Entity List for providing support to Russia’s military and defense sector. These entities are also receiving “footnote 3” designations as Russian or Belarusian “Military End Users,” and will be subjected to the restrictions imposed under the Russia/Belarus-Military End User FDPR. As a reminder, the Entity List (supplement no. 4 to part 744 of the EAR) identifies entities for which there is reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable facts, that the entities—including businesses, research institutions, government and private organizations, individuals, and other types of legal persons— have been involved, are involved, or pose a significant risk of being or becoming involved in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States. Parties on the Entity List are subject to export, reexport, and transfer (in country) licensing requirements and license application review policies supplemental to those found elsewhere in the EAR.
b. One Armenian entity and one Kyrgyz entity are added to the Entity List for preventing the successful accomplishment of end-use checks and posing a risk of diversion of items subject to the EAR to Russia.
The full text of the rule (with the full list of entities) is available here: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2023-10684/addition-of-entities-to-the-entity-list.
OFAC/Sanctions
On May 19, 2023, OFAC added 22 individuals and 104 entities, with touchpoints in more than 20 countries or jurisdictions, to the agency’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list. The assets of entities and individuals identified on the SDN list are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them. Note that, for purposes of OFAC sanctions, “U.S. person” is defined as including all U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens regardless of where they are located, all persons and entities within the United States, and all U.S. incorporated entities and their foreign branches. Further, bear in mind that OFAC prohibits “facilitation,” meaning that no United States person, wherever located, may approve, finance, facilitate, or guarantee any transaction by a foreign person where the transaction by that foreign person would be prohibited by this part if performed by a United States person or within the United States.
According to OFAC, these sanctions target, among other persons, “those attempting to circumvent or evade sanctions and other economic measures against Russia, the channels Russia uses to acquire critical technology, its future energy extraction capabilities, and Russia’s financial services sector.”
OFAC also announced that it was designating or identifying as blocked almost 200 additional individuals, entities, vessels, and aircraft for their role in sanctions evasion and circumvention; maintaining Russia’s capacity to wage its war of aggression; and supporting Russia’s future energy revenue sources.
A detailed fact sheet identifying each of the over 300 newly sanctioned parties is available here: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1494.