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Bart M. McMillan

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US – OFAC revokes General License authorizing transactions with certain Belarusian SDNs and issues Wind-Down License

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On April 19, 2021, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) revoked Belarus General License 2G (“GL 2G”), which had generally authorized US Person participation in transactions involving nine Belarusian state-owned entities designated as Specially Designated Nations (SDNs), and entities in which they own a 50 percent or greater interest. The revocation of GL 2G effectively strengthens US sanctions against Belarus, and may make it more difficult for US Persons to conduct…

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

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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 sanctions against Burma

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On February 10, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14014 “Blocking Property with Respect to the Situation in Burma” (EO 14014), which provides for the imposition of sanctions on certain Burmese parties in response to the Burmese military’s coup against the democratically elected civilian government in Burma. In parallel with the issuance of EO 14014, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated thirteen parties on February 10, 2021 and two parties on February 22, 2021 connected…

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

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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 State Department announces designation of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism

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On January 11, 2021, the US State Department published a press release announcing Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (“SST”) for allegedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists. Cuba was originally designated as an SST in 1982 but was delisted in 2015 by President Barack Obama. Cuba’s SST designation follows increasingly stringent sanctions imposed by the US Government including restriction on remittances to Cuba and further restrictions on…

US – BIS adds a “Military End User List” to the EAR consisting of 102 Chinese and Russian entities

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On December 23, 2020, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding a new “Military End User List” (MEU List) as supplement no. 7 to part 744 of the EAR. The final rule adds 102 entities to the MEU List, which will consist of Chinese, Russian, and Venezuelan entities that the US Government has determined are “military end users” for purposes…

US Government further tightens Cuban sanctions targeting Cuban travel, hotels, cigars and rum

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On September 24, 2020, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a Final Rule in the Federal Resister that amended the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) to further implement the President’s foreign policy to deny the Cuban regime sources of revenue. Major elements of the changes include: Professional (Including Business) Meetings and Conferences: The Final Rule amends a CACR general license to eliminate the authorization for CACR parties to attend or organize professional (including business)…

US Government warns businesses of human rights risks in supply chain in Xinjiang, China

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On July 1, 2020, the US Department of State, jointly with the US Department of Treasury, the US Department of Commerce, and the US Department of Homeland Security, issued an advisory (the “Advisory”) to caution US businesses about the risks of supply chain links to entities that allegedly engage in human rights abuses including the forced labor of Uyghurs, ethnic Kyrgyz, ethnic Kazakhs and other Muslim minority groups, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (“Xinjiang”) in China…

US Government adds thirty three entities located in China, Hong Kong and Cayman Islands to the Entity List

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On June 5, 2020, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published: (1) a final rule adding nine Chinese entities to the Entity List (the “XUAR Designees”), and (2) a final rule adding twenty four entities located in China, Hong Kong, and the Cayman Islands to the Entity List (the “Military Designees”). Both sets of designations were announced by the Commerce Department on May 22, 2020 (see announcements here and here), but their designations are effective as of their…