The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls this week officially updated its two open general licenses to extend their validity for three years and make other “non-substantive edits” to the text of the licenses. The edits clarify that multiple defense articles “need not be reexported or retransferred simultaneously” and the open general licenses can be used to reexport or retransfer a single defense article, the May 31 notice said. The agency announced the three-year extension for the open general license pilot program in March, which will continue to authorize reexports and retransfers of certain defense items and services to Australia, Canada and the U.K. (see 2303280034 and 2207190008).
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and the Census Bureau will hold a June 15 “refresher” webinar on using the Defense Export Control and Compliance System, the agencies announced this week. The webinar will feature a “deep dive into key Registration topics and functionality” and cover “upcoming updates that users can expect to the Registration application.” It will also include a question-and-answer period.
The Federal Maritime Commission last week approved a settlement agreement between U.S. metal trader CCMA and major ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). The confidential settlement stems from a December CCMA complaint alleging MSC assessed it $114,000 in unfair detention and demurrage fees (see 2212080020). MSC denied those allegations, saying CCMA lacked "meritorious factual basis" for its claims (see 2301090017).
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls recently updated its fact sheet and guidance for its open general license pilot program that was announced last year (see 2207200005) and extended in March (see 2303280034). Updated frequently asked questions clarify that the licenses allow for “demilitarization of defense articles,” specify that the licenses can’t be used to reexport or retransfer items subject to Commerce Department export controls and outline how long the pilot program is slated to last.
The State Department last week called on Russia to stop preventing agricultural exports and other food products from leaving Ukraine, saying it would help lower global food prices and get “urgently needed grains to people around the world.” Moscow should “end its illegal war in Ukraine to allow a return to normal agricultural production and trade and an immediate and significant improvement in global food security,” the agency said. It also stressed that U.S. sanctions aren’t blocking agricultural trade, and the U.S. offers authorizations to allow “transactions involving agricultural products and fertilizer.”
The State Department approved a potential $285 million military sale to Ukraine, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said May 24. The sale includes an “Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System” and related equipment, and the principal contractor will be Raytheon Missiles and Defense.
U.S. exports of semiconductors to China fell by about $2.9 billion in 2022, “wiping out” growth the industry saw the year before, the U.S.-China Business Council said in a report this week. The decline was partly due to the Biden administration’s sweeping chip controls released in October (see 2210070049), the report said, adding that the “more frequent use of export controls over the last few years has led Chinese customers to deprioritize American products when there are viable domestic and third-country suppliers.”
Orient Overseas Container Line denied allegations that it violated U.S. shipping regulations, saying a complaint filed by Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) in April (see 2305010049 and 2305020019) was "an unfortunate campaign to distort and obfuscate the relevant facts, contracts and law, in order to secure an unwarranted return." The container line said neither the statements in BBBY's complaint "nor the text of the contracts themselves" support claims that OOCL breached its contracts.
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is seeking comments by July 24 on a new data collection for "empty container volumes at intermodal locations," it said in a Federal Register notice. The data collection effort, which would implement certain parts of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, would allow the FMC to gather information on "vessel-level tonnage as well as full and empty containers entering and leaving U.S. ports." It would also allow the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to collect "operational data on intermodal equipment and dwell times."
The State Department recently certified that Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Syria and Venezuela aren’t cooperating fully with U.S. antiterrorism efforts. Under the Arms Export Control Act, the U.S. can’t authorize certain defense exports to countries listed under this certification.