Here is a recap of the latest customs and international trade law news:

Russia/Sanctions

  • On March 25, 2022, the general license, “authorizing certain transactions with respect to seafood, alcoholic beverages, and non-industrial diamond importations from the Russia Federation,” expired.  CBP will therefore be requiring manifests, entries for consumption or warehouse or admissions to Foreign Trade Zones for shipments of these goods to be held as prohibited products.

CBP/ Forced Labor

OFAC

  • On March 25, 2022 the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated a network of six individuals connected to Nigeria-based terrorist group, Boko Haram.  All six were found guilty of establishing a Boko Haram cell in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to raise funds for and provide material assistance to Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria.
  • On March 24, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designating key enablers of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This includes dozens of Russian defense companies, 328 members of the Russian State Duma, and the CEO of Sberbank, Russia’s largest financial institution.
  • On March 30, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned an Iran-based procurement agent and his network of companies that procured ballistic missile propellant-related materials for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Research and Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization (IRGC RSSJO), the IRGC unit responsible for the research and development of ballistic missiles, as well as Iran’s Parchin Chemical Industries (PCI), an element of Iran’s Defense Industries Organization (DIO). In addition, OFAC is taking action against a key Iranian intermediary involved in the procurement of parts used to develop missile propellant on behalf of PCI.

USTR

  • On March 30, 2022, Ambassador Katherine Tai testified before the House Ways & Means Committee on the Biden Administration’s 2022 Trade Policy Agenda and provided an update on USTR’s efforts to advance President Biden’s trade priorities, highlighted recent wins on behalf of American workers and businesses, and laid out USTR’s strategic objectives for the year ahead.
  • On March 31, 2022, Ambassador Katherine Tai testified before the Senate Finance Committee on the Biden Administration’s 2022 Trade Policy Agenda. Ambassador Tai provided an update on USTR’s efforts to advance President Biden’s trade priorities, highlight recent wins on behalf of American workers and businesses, and lay out USTR’s strategic objectives for the year ahead.

FDA 

  • On March 30, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters jointly with the Federal Trade Commission to seven companies for selling CBD products using research studies to claim or imply that these products will cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent COVID-19. The following companies received the letter: Cureganics, Heaven’s Organics LLC, Functional Remedies, LLC D/B/A Synchronicity Hemp Oil, Greenway Herbal Products LLC, CBD Social, UPSY LLC, Nature’s Highway.

If you have questions about these updates, contact our Customs and International trade law attorneys at info@diaztradelaw.com or call us at 305-456-3830.

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