The State Department is poised to upgrade Malaysia on its human trafficking scale in the 2015 annual report on the issue, according to a Reuters report released on July 8. The trafficking reports are typically issued in June, and the 2015 rendition is expected to surface soon. State is preparing to move Malaysia from Tier 3 to Tier 2 on the scale, said Reuters (here).

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls removed on July 6 revised export control compliance forms it recently published online in recent days. The agency planned to upgrade DTrade, DSP forms and Batch Schemas to support “system enhancements,” and intended to require industry use of the new forms on July 18. "DDTC Technology Division has discovered a problem with the upcoming DTrade forms posted on July 1, 2015, thus the forms have been removed," said the agency. "DDTC will repost the future forms once the issue has been resolved."

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) is upgrading DTrade, DSP forms and Batch Schemas to support “system enhancements.” Beginning July 18, DTrade users are required to use the following new upgraded formats:

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued the following name and address change notification on June 4 (here):

The Obama administration still aims to restore sanctions on Iran on July 1 if the two sides don’t reach a nuclear enrichment deal before a critical deadline the day before, said the State Department (here). The U.S., Iran and several world powers struck a tentative deal on the nuclear negotiations in early April (see 1504020058). U.S. industry is eyeing more Iranian market access as part of more comprehensive sanctions relief (see 1412090026).

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued the following address change notification on June 1 (here):

The State Department formally dropped Cuba from its State Sponsors of Terrorism List on May 29, in another step towards normalization of bilateral trade and diplomatic ties. “While the United States has significant concerns and disagreements with a wide range of Cuba’s policies and actions, these fall outside the criteria relevant to the rescission of a State Sponsor of Terrorism designation,” said a State spokesman (here). The Obama administration launched the process to remove Cuba from the list in mid-April (see 1504140039). That move began a 45-day period for Congress to act to prevent the removal, but lawmakers allowed the window to lapse without any action. Lifting the terror label is critical to normalizing ties, but likely won’t lead to immediate sanctions relief, sanctions experts have said (see 1504090066).

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued the following address change notification on May 28 (here):

The State Department issued a final rule to immediately approve defense exports to Fiji, following a years-long ban for the country. The new rule (here), effective May 29, amends the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to remove a denial policy for both defense articles and services. State initially denied defense exports to Fiji after a 2006 military coup in the country (here). State said the Fijian government conducted “credible” elections in September 2014, which prompted the agency to lift the denial. The leader of the 2006 coup, Voreqe Bainimarama, remains prime minister following the 2014 elections.

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued the following address change notification on May 21 (here):