Russia to Rejoin 126.1, Individuals and Entities Face Additional Sanctions
On March 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of State announced a series of new sanctions related to “The Russian Federation’s Use of a Chemical Weapon in the Attempted Assassination of Russian Opposition Figure Aleksey Navalny in August 2020 and his Subsequent Imprisonment in January 2021.”
The addition of Russia to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) §126.1 prohibited destination list, with limited exceptions for government space cooperation, expands on chemical weapons sanctions imposed in 2018, among others. Including parallel actions by the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), new sanctions include:
- New individuals and entities sanctioned under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
- New individuals and entities added to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List).
- New individuals and entities added to the Entity List.
While Russia has been treated more or less as a §126.1 country through both license review policies and its specific exclusion from the ITAR cloud rule at §120.54(a)(5), the listing will affect a number other ITAR compliance areas:
- Proposed and final sales: Broad prohibition ranges from proposals and presentations to actual sales and exports.
- Disclosures: An affirmative duty to immediately inform the Directorate of Defense Trade Control (DDTC) of any “proposed, final, or actual sale, export, transfer, reexport, or retransfer of articles, services, or data.”
- Exemptions: Most exemptions are not available for 126.1 countries.
- Dual/Third Country Nationals: §126.18(c)(2) will require screening for substantive contacts with Russia.
- Brokering: Additional restrictions under Part 129.
The Department also published a fact sheet on the new sanctions. Russia had been listed in §126.1 until April 3, 2006. The new §126.1 listing will take effect through a Federal Register Notice that has not yet been published.
Burma Sanctioned Over Military Coup
On February 17, 2021, BIS published a notice (86 FR 10011) of a more restrictive license review policy and suspension of some license exceptions following the February 1st military coup in Burma. On March 8, 2021, this was followed by two new rules (86 FR 13173 and 86 FR 13179).
The first rule amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to:
- Move Burma from Country Group B to Country Group D:1, rendering many license exceptions unavailable;
- Subject Burma to military end use and end user restrictions; and
- Move Burma from Computer Tier 1 to Computer Tier 3 in the Computers (APP) license exception.
The second rule adds four Burmese entities to the Entity List, which imposes a license requirement for all items subject to the EAR under a license review policy of denial.
Sanctions on Burma had been relaxed in recent years, following improvements in human rights and democracy. Burma was moved from Country Group D:1 to Country Group B in 2016, while remaining in Country Groups D:3 and D:5 (related to chemical and biological weapons proliferation concerns and arms embargoes). In 2017, OFAC removed the Burmese Sanctions Regulations following the termination of the underlying Executive Order.
Burma has long been and remains ITAR §126.1 prohibited destination.