The State Department re-affirmed in a Federal Register notice the list of Cuban entrepreneurial imports the U.S. continues to ban, after publishing the initial list in February (see 1502170024). State again outlined the Harmonized Tariff Schedule classification that the U.S. prohibits (here). The banned HTS areas are as follows:

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued the following name and address change notifications in recent days:

The State Department designated Tunisian national Ali Ouni Harzi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (here). The designation includes prohibitions against knowingly providing, attempting or conspiring to provide material support or resources or engaging in transactions with the individual. The designation also freezes all property and interests of the entity in the U.S. or in the control of U.S. citizens. Harzi is an al-Qaida affiliate based in Syria, but he previously operated out of Tunisia, State says (here).

The State Department’s Office of Defense Trade Controls Licensing is aiming for a “leaner” agency structure with reorganization plans set to take effect on April 20. The ongoing Export Control Reform process has slashed total licenses by 36 percent, said State, without specifying a timeframe for the reduction. The DTCL has undergone “downsizing” and will now be reorganized into the following divisions: Space, Missile, and Sensor Systems; Electronic and Training Systems; Sea, Land, and Air Systems; and Light Weapons and Personal Protective Equipment Systems. “Other portions of [State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls] website will be updated the weekend prior to implementation,” said State in its statement (here). “D-Trade will be configured to automatically route cases to the proper division based on the USML commodities on the application; no action is required by industry to adjust applications as a result of this reorganization.”

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls postponed indefinitely it's transition to a new platform for all external systems in a recent statement (here). DDTC previously said it would bring DTrade, Electronic Forms Submission and MARY under the new platform by April 17, and the agency laid out a detailed timeline for the transition (see 1503170021). "A new deployment schedule will be provided at a later time," said DDTC on April 3.

The globe’s top five importers and exporters of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine are tackling illicit traffic of those chemicals both alone and in conjunction with the U.S., said the State Department (here). China, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom are fully meeting the goals laid out in the 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (here), State added.

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued the following name and address change notifications on March 31:

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued the following address change notifications on March 30:

The State Department designated Russian national Aliaskhab Kebekov, along with a slew of aliases, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The designation includes prohibitions against knowingly providing, attempting or conspiring to provide material support or resources or engaging in transactions with the individual. The designations also freeze all property and interests of the entity in the U.S. or in the control of U.S. citizens. Kebekov is an al-Qaida affiliate and currently operates out of the Russian North Caucuses region, State says (here).

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued the following name and address change notifications in recent days: