The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a final rule, effective February 27, 2012, amending the Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations (IFSR) and reissuing them in their entirety, in order to, among other things, implement section 1245(d) of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2012 (NDAA), which provides for the imposition of sanctions with respect to the Central Bank of Iran and designated Iranian financial institutions.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule, effective February 22, 2012, updating the Code of Federal Regulations legal authority citations for the Export Administration Regulations to replace citations to the President’s Notice of January 13, 2011 (Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Terrorists Who Threaten to Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process) with citations to the President’s Notice of January 19, 2012 continuation (of the same name), and add citations to the President’s Notice of September 21, 2011 (Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Persons Who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism).
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a final rule, effective February 27, 2012, amending its export and import regulations (10 CFR Part 110) by removing Oman from the list of restricted destinations. This action was recommended by the Executive Branch in light of current foreign policy and nonproliferation-related actions taken and policies pursued by the Government of Oman. This means that exports of certain nuclear and byproduct materials to Oman may qualify for the NRC general license. At present, Oman has no nuclear research or power program; however, it does have the need for radioactive sources for legitimate industrial, medical, and research purposes in support of economic development projects. NRC states that exports of radioactive sources from the U.S. for such purposes would be facilitated by removal of Oman from the restricted destinations list.
On February 23, 2012, the President sent a letter to Congress announcing that the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13566 of February 25, 2011 with respect to Libya is to continue in effect for one year.
On February 23, 2012, the President sent a letter to Congress announcing that the national emergency declared with respect to Cuba and the emergency authority relating to the regulation of the anchorage and movement of vessels set out in Proclamation 6867 as amended by Proclamation 7757, is to continue in effect beyond March 1, 2012.
The International Trade Administration has initiated an administrative reviews for certain firms subject to antidumping or countervailing duty orders with January anniversary dates. The ITA intends to issue the final results of these reviews not later than January 31, 2013.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued General License No. 15, related to Syria, to authorize transactions in connection with intellectual property rights protection that would otherwise be prohibited by Executive Order 13582 of August 17, 2011 (Blocking Property of the Government of Syria and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to Syria). Specifically, the General License authorizes (1) the filing and prosecution of any application for, (2) the receipt of, (3) the renewal or maintenance of, (4) and the filing and prosecution of (or entry of defense to) any opposition or infringement proceeding with respect to: any patent, trademark, copyright, or other form of intellectual property protection in the United States or Syria.
The Bureau of Industry and Security states that it has renewed for 180 days its Temporary Denial Order against Mahan Airways of Iran, Zarand Aviation, Gatewick LLC, Pejman Mahmood Kosarayanifard, Mahmoud Amini, Kerman Aviation, Sirjanco Trading, Ali Eslamian, and related parties.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule, effective February 24, 2012, which amends Supplement No. 7 to Part 748 of the Export Administration Regulations to revise the existing Authorization Validated End-User listings for GE India Industrial Pvt Ltd.; Applied Materials (China), Inc.; Boeing Tianjin Composites Co. Ltd.; CSMC Technologies Corporation; Lam Research Corporation; and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation.
The Food and Drug Administration has stated that it is not aware of any brand of infant formula containing organic brown rice syrup (OBRS), although one brand of toddler formula uses OBRS as a sweetener. The label for this product, however, states that it is for use in children older than 12 months, and also warns that a health care professional should be consulted before using it for infants under 12 months of age. FDA's statement was made due to concerns of trace amounts of arsenic in foods. In response to these concerns, FDA has expanded its surveillance activities in rice. FDA began a further study of arsenic in rice and rice products in October 2011 to determine the level and types of arsenic typically found in these products. According to the FDA, the study is scheduled to be complete in Spring 2012.