The Office of Foreign Assets Control announced (here) that it will implement “HTTP Strict Transport Security” headers on Treasury.gov on Jan. 12 during an “evening maintenance window.” The action will affect users of OFAC’s Sanctions List Data Files, though no downtime associated with the change is anticipated, OFAC said. However, the change will affect several domains and sub-domains, and will force users to the “HTTPS site,” while not allowing browsers to redirect from HTTP to HTTPS. This could impact scripts users have developed to poll Treasury.gov for data, OFAC said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added 12 individuals and one entity to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under Magnitsky-related and counterterrorism designations, OFAC said (here and here).
The Bureau of Industry and Security is issuing a final rule to add five persons to the Entity List under destination of Turkey, to remove one entity under the destination of India, and to revise five existing entries on the list under the destinations of Armenia, Greece, Pakistan, Russia and the United Kingdom, the agency said (here). Furthermore, the final rule will revise the license requirement under the destination of Russia to conform with General License 11 issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control on Dec. 20 (see 1612210019), BIS said. Aligning with the general license, BIS is making a conforming change modifying the listing for FAU Glavgosekspertiza Rossii under the destination of Russia; specifically, BIS will change the license requirement column in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) for this entity to specify that the Entity List's license requirements don't apply to items subject to the EAR related to transactions authorized by OFAC pursuant to that license. The license authorizes transactions otherwise prohibited by Executive Order 13685 of Dec. 19, 2014, that are "ordinarily incident" and necessary to requesting, contracting for, paying for, receiving or utilizing a project design review or permit from FAU Glavgosekspertiza Rossii’s office(s) in the Russian Federation, provided that the underlying project is located wholly within Russia.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added three individuals and two entities to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under transnational criminal organizations designations, OFAC said (here).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added two individuals to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under counterterrorism designations, OFAC said (here).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added 18 individuals and five entities to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under counterproliferation and Syria designations, OFAC said (here).
The interagency End-User Review Committee, as ordered through the Bureau of Industry and Security, is adding 23 entities to the Entity List under destinations of Russia and the Crimea region of Ukraine, BIS said (here). The action, which will take effect Dec. 27, follows the Office of Foreign Assets Control's addition of seven individuals, eight entities and two vessels to the Specially Designated Nationals list, under Russia/Ukraine designations, as well as OFAC's addition of 26 entities to its Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List under Russia/Ukraine designations (see 1612210019).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is issuing a final rule to amend the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations to reflect agency licensing policies and address public inquiries, OFAC said (here). The rule will make changes related to authorized sales of agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices to Iran pursuant to the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, and clarifies definitions of “goods of Iranian origin” and “Iranian-origin goods,” OFAC said. The final rule will take effect Dec. 23.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added one individual to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under counterterrorism designations, OFAC said (here).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 11, which authorizes certain transactions with FAU Glavgosekspertiza Rossii ordinarily incident and necessary to requesting, contracting for, paying for, receiving or utilizing a project design review or permit from the company's office(s) in Russia, not including Crimea, OFAC said (here). The state-run entity is authorized to conduct official examinations of project documentation for significant construction in Russia. In other action, OFAC added seven individuals, eight entities and two vessels to the Specially Designated Nationals list, under Russia/Ukraine designations, the agency said. OFAC also added 26 entities to its Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List under Russia/Ukraine designations. A State Department spokesman on Dec. 20 said the sanctions reflect Russia's support for separatists in Ukraine, and violation of Ukrainian territorial integrity and sovereignty (here). The State spokesman said he hopes the next administration will continue the sanctions, highlighting recent events in Ukraine. Considering "the recent violence ... in eastern Ukraine just over the last couple of days, we would hope that they would see the wisdom in keeping these sanctions and this pressure on Russia, because we have seen it have an effect," he said. "But obviously, these are decisions they have to make and we also respect that process as well."