Treasury Implements Termination of Burma Sanctions Program
U.S. Department of Treasury
WASHINGTON – Today (10/7/16), President Obama signed an Executive Order terminating the national emergency with respect to Burma, revoking the Burma sanctions Executive Orders, and waiving other statutory blocking and financial sanctions on Burma. As a result, the economic and financial sanctions administered by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) are no longer in effect. These steps fulfill the announcement made by President Obama during the visit of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, stand as a testament to the far-reaching changes that Burma has undergone in the past few years, and are intended to support efforts by the civilian government and the people of Burma to continue their process of political reform and broad-based economic growth and prosperity.
“Burma has made significant strides in recent years, including choosing a civilian-led, democratically elected government,” said Adam J. Szubin, Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Lifting economic and financial sanctions will further support trade and economic growth, and Treasury will continue to work with Burma to implement a robust anti-money laundering regime that will help to ensure the security of its financial system.”
Termination of the Burma Sanctions Program
Executive Order (E.O.) ______ of October 7, 2016,“Termination of Emergency With Respect to the Actions and Policies of the Government of Burma,” terminated the national emergency, revoked E.O.s 13047, 13310, 13448, 13464, 13619, and 13651, and waived financial and blocking sanctions in the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta’s Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2008. As a result, the economic and financial sanctions on Burma administered by OFAC are no longer in effect. This includes the following impacts, among others:
- All individuals and entities blocked pursuant to the Burmese Sanctions Regulations(BSR) have been removed from OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and BlockedPersons (SDN) List.
- All property and interests in property blocked pursuant to the BSR are unblocked.
- The ban on the importation into the United States of Burmese-origin jadeite and rubies,and any jewelry containing them, has been revoked.
- All OFAC-administered restrictions under the Burma sanctions program regardingbanking or financial transactions with Burma are no longer in effect.
- OFAC will remove the BSR from the Code of Federal Regulations.
- Compliance with the State Department’s Responsible Investment ReportingRequirements is no longer required by OFAC’s regulations and is now voluntary.
The termination of the Burma sanctions program does not impact Burmese individuals or entities blocked pursuant to other OFAC sanctions authorities, such as counter-narcotics sanctions. They remain on the SDN List, and their property and interests in property remain blocked. Further, pending or future OFAC enforcement investigations or actions related to apparent violations of the BSR when in effect may still be carried out.
Banking with Burmese Banks
This Executive Order terminates all OFAC-administered restrictions and authorizations under the Burma sanctions program pertaining to banking with Burma. This includes the OFAC general licenses issued in 2012 and 2013 that authorized certain correspondent account activity with Burmese banks.
In 2003, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) found Burma to be a “jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern” under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. As a result, FinCEN issued a prohibition on U.S. financial institutions from maintaining correspondent accounts for Burmese banks. The 2003 finding remains in place, but FinCEN is issuing an administrative exception today to suspend the prohibition so that U.S. financial institutions can continue to provide correspondent services to Burmese banks, subject to the appropriate due diligence requirements. This exception is based on Burma’s progress in improving its anti-money laundering regime and its commitment to continue making progress to
address money laundering, corruption, and narcotics-related activities. FinCEN intends to rescind its action in its entirety when Burma has made sufficient progress in addressing these issues.
FinCEN’s administrative exception can be found here.
CBP Officers Discover Drug Load in Shipment of Rolled Metal - U.S. Customs & Border Protection
EL PASO, Texas -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations officers working at the El Paso port of entry seized 648 pounds of marijuana late Friday. The drugs were concealed in spools of sheet metal being imported from Mexico.
“This is an unusual concealment method that was unraveled by the good work of vigilant CBP officers,” said Severiano Solis, acting CBP El Paso Port Director. “Smugglers will sometimes try to conceal their drugs in legitimate cargo in an attempt to transport contraband across the border.”
The drug seizure was made just after 5 p.m. when a 1999 Freightliner towing a 1992 Wabash trailer entered the Ysleta cargo facility from Mexico. CBP officer selected the shipment of rolled sheet metal for an intensive exam. CBP officers x-rayed the shipment and spotted anomalies in the commodity. A CBP drug sniffing dog searched the shipment and alerted to the presence of drugs in the spools. CBP officers continued their exam and removed 28 bundles of marijuana from specially crafted compartments inside the spools. No arrests were made and the investigation continues.
The seizure was one of eight made by area CBP officers during the holiday weekend period. They seized 1,402 pounds of marijuana, 18.5 pounds of methamphetamine, and 12 pounds of cocaine. CBP officers also made nine NCIC arrests and stopped seven people who were transporting prohibited agricultural items from Mexico to the U.S.
While anti-terrorism is the primary mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the inspection process at the ports of entry associated with this mission results in impressive numbers of enforcement actions in all categories.
USITC to Update Report on Effects of U.S. Import Restraints - U.S. International Trade Commission
The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has begun an update of its report on the effects of significant U.S. import restraints. The report will also examine the effects of tariffs and of customs and border procedures on global supply chains.
The report, The Economic Effects of Significant U.S. Import Restraints: Ninth Update; Special Topic: Effects of Tariffs and of Customs and Border Procedures on Global Supply Chains, was requested by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in a letter received on September 13, 2016. In the letter, the USTR noted: “The rising importance of global supply chains means that intermediate inputs are increasingly traded across borders. Tariffs and inefficient customs and border procedures can raise the price of these inputs in each country they enter along the global supply chain, while their removal can substantially improve global welfare. An overview of these inefficiencies along the supply chain would be a useful special topic in the report."
The ninth update will contain two parts. The first part will assess the economic effects of significant import restraints on U.S. consumers, workers, and firms. The USTR also requested that the ninth USITC report include an assessment of how significant U.S. import restraints affect households with different incomes. As in the past, and as requested by the USTR, the USITC will not assess import restraints resulting from antidumping or countervailing duty investigations, section 337 and 406 investigations, or section 301 actions.
The second part of the report will describe, to the extent practicable, the cumulative effects of tariffs and customs and border procedures on global supply chains. It will also include the effect on services to the extent that they depend on goods traded through global supply chains. It will provide an overview of the recent literature that discusses the effects of these costs along the supply chain. It will also provide case studies examining supply chain inefficiencies stemming from customs and border procedures abroad in relevant industries.
The USITC will hold a public hearing in connection with investigation at 9:30 a.m. on February 9, 2017. Requests to appear at the hearing should be filed no later than 5:15 p.m. on January 26, 2017, with the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436. For further information, call 202-205-2000.
The USITC also welcomes written submissions for the record. Written submissions should be addressed to the Secretary at the above address and should be submitted at the earliest practical date, but no later than 5:15 p.m. on March 1, 2017. All written submissions, except for confidential business information, will be available for public inspection.
Further information on the scope of the investigations and appropriate submissions is available in the USITC's notice of investigation, October 11, 2016, which can be obtained from the USITC Internet site (www.usitc.gov) or by contacting the Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000.
USITC general factfinding investigations, such as these, cover matters related to tariffs or trade and are generally conducted at the request of the U.S. Trade Representative, the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Senate Committee on Finance. The resulting reports convey the Commission's objective findings and independent analyses on the subject investigated. The Commission makes no recommendations on policy or other matters in its general factfinding reports. Upon completion of each investigation, the USITC submits its findings and analyses to the requester. General factfinding investigations reports are subsequently released to the public, unless they are classified by the requester for national security reasons.
September Cargo Weighed Down by Hanjin Bankruptcy - Port of Long Beach
Full month of impacts affect container counts
Port of Long Beach container volumes declined 16.6 percent year-over-year in September, as the effects of the Hanjin bankruptcy reached West Coast ports.
Longshore workers moved 546,805 twenty-foot equivalent units last month. This included 282,945 TEUs in imports, down 15 percent from September 2015, a month which capped off the Port’s best quarter ever. Exports dropped to 120,383 TEUs, a decrease of 4.2 percent. Empties were 27.2 percent lower at 143,476 TEUs.
Port officials said the number of containers handled during September was impacted not only by reduced calls by Hanjin-operated ships, but also by the absence of Hanjin containers on vessels operated by fellow CKYHE Alliance members. Hanjin Shipping containers account for approximately 12.3 percent of the Port’s total containerized volume.
Cargo volumes are down 4.6 percent for the current calendar year to date in Long Beach.
2 Colombian Nationals Extradited on Charges of Using Clandestine Air Shipments to Smuggle Multi-Ton Loads of Cocaine - ICE
LOS ANGELES – Two Colombian drug kingpins have been extradited to Los Angeles on federal charges for allegedly overseeing multi-ton shipments of cocaine from Colombian laboratories to Central American distribution hubs that were ultimately destined for sale in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the U.S.
Dicson Penagos-Casanova, 36, and Juan Gabriel Rios Sierra, 34, are charged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday with spearheading the conspiracy to “coordinate aerial shipments of ton-quantities of cocaine” for sale to “cocaine-trafficking syndicates” in Central America. The shipments included more than $70 million in cocaine recovered by international law enforcement.
The charges are the result of a probe by special agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Los Angeles and Colombia; the Los Angeles High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The Colombian, Aruban and Dutch governments also provided substantial assistance.
Specifically, Penagos and Rios would “transport the cocaine via overland routes from production laboratories outside Meta, Colombia, to underground storage facilities near clandestine airstrips in the western Apure Department of Venezuela.” They would “arrange for bribes to be paid to Venezuelan military and government officials in an effort to ensure that aircraft carrying cocaine loads “enjoyed safe passage through Venezuelan airspace.” Using jets that they acquired “through straw purchasers in the United States,” Penagos and Rios would hire pilots to fly the cocaine to the “Central American distribution hubs,” where the drugs would be offloaded “for further distribution” in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the U.S. and Mexico.
“By taking key players out of commission, we are disrupting the drug cartels’ ability to import their dangerous narcotics into our country,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “These defendants’ arrival in the U.S. for prosecution marks a significant victory for law enforcement here and in Central and South America, which have worked in concert to ensure justice is achieved in this case.”
The indictment focuses on two air shipments in January and May of 2015 that collectively contained approximately 3.2 tons of cocaine, which has a black market wholesale value of approximately $72 million. Both shipments were ultimately recovered by international law enforcement after two aircraft crashed. The January 2015 cocaine shipment was shot down by the Venezuelan Air Force shortly after takeoff. Soon thereafter, Dutch law enforcement recovered kilogram-sized packages of cocaine that were floating in the Caribbean Sea near Aruba. The May 2015 aircraft crashed into the Caribbean Sea near the Colombian port of Barranquilla after its engine failed.
The indictment also outlines intercepted communications in which Penagos and Rios coordinated the cocaine shipments and discuss the two downed aircraft, including sharing an article from a Honduran newspaper reporting on the January 2015 shoot-down and speculating on whether the May 2015 crash was also the product of “intervention by the Venezuelan military.
“The vast majority of cocaine imported to the U.S. originates in Colombia, and a substantial amount of it transits the Los Angeles area,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Steve Comer. “This investigation penetrated the highest levels of multiple drug cartels and disrupted the entire cocaine supply chain, from the production in Colombia to the distribution in the U.S. Continued collaboration between DEA and our foreign and domestic law enforcement partners will deliver similar blows to the cocaine industry, which is already being forced to rethink its logistics.”
Penagos and Rios were delivered to United States custody Tuesday after Colombian courts approved the extradition request. The defendants are expected to be arraigned on the indictment Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. If convicted of the charges in the indictment, Penagos and Rios each face a statutory maximum prison term of life in federal prison.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.