Will South Sudan’s Oil Help the North?

The U.S. Treasury Department has enforced sanctions on the country of Sudan since 1997 regarding it’s support for international terrorism, regional political sabotage, and human rights violations in Darfur. However with the newest country of South Sudan to grace this fine planet, comes ongoing political pressure by its representatives to lift sanctions. From a US foreign policy perspective it comes natural that fostering a fledgling democratic nation such as South Sudan is in it’s best interest, especially as recent turmoil in the region leave little room for pro-American interests to crystalize (although the Arab Spring has not had a American element attached to it, pro or otherwise, arab nations undergoing change are at risk of creating a political vacuum). Moreover, the current economic problems in many of the leading nations has created much motivation for countries to look for new markets. South Sudan with nearly three fourths of the oil reserves in all in its previous borders with North Sudan is seeking to re-open its markets for foreign oil companies. In order to do this, the US treasury department has to re-draft a new sanctions regime that omits South Sudan. … Continue Reading

Sandia National Laboratories: Protecting Against Biological Threats

Albuquerque, NM – Safeguarding the world’s most dangerous biological agents has been a top priority for a dedicated group of Sandia scientists for more than a decade, and now, this team is training laboratory leaders from around the world to secure deadly agents such as anthrax and HIV from accidental or intentional misuse.

This year, Sandia’s International Biological Threat Reduction (IBTR) co-developed the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Biorisk Management Advanced Trainer Course (BRM ATC) which will be executed in each of the WHO’s six regions: Eastern Mediterranean, the Americas, Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa and the Western Pacific. The team conducted sessions in Amman, Jordan, and Quito, Ecuador, starting in April, and will present additional courses in Stockholm, Sweden, the Maldives, Nairobi, Kenya, and possibly Bangkok, Thailand, by December.

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A Better Reform: Export Controls

ON Tuesday President Barrack Obama discussed the long awaited steps towards reforming the decades old export controls system. Arguably the US export control policy is one of the most restrictive, and thus quite logically mired with inefficiencies. As Eric L. Hirschhorn, Under Secretary for Industry and Security, put it “If we over control, we risk diverting our licensing and enforcement resources from the most significant items and the most dangerous end users.”

 The lack of a bipolar threat today, unlike the Cold War at the time of the fashioning of this export control strategy, requires a newer system capable of better securing national interests. As a consequence the reform process sees to better organize the various control lists and apply a three tier system for reviewing applications. … Continue Reading

Volvo Fined For Supplying Motor Graders to Sudan

By: Erich Ferrari

The United States Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) released its monthly list of civil penalties last Friday, May 29. Really no suprises here folks. Three penalities were dished out: two for violations of the Cuban Embargo Program and one for violation of the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations.

The largest penalty was levied against Liberty International Holdings, Inc., for underwriting policies that insured Cuban business risks. OFAC imposed a civil penalty against Liberty in the amount of $35,211.75.

Volvo Construction Equipment North America, Inc. was also penalized by OFAC in the amount of $33,000.00. Volvo Construction Equipment North America, (yes, they are a subsidiary of auto manufacturer Volvo), is alleged to have facilited the export of motor graders to Sudan from Dubai and effected the transfer of funds in relation to this exportation. What was more interesting is that Volvo did not voluntarily disclose these transactions to OFAC. This is surprising in that when these bigger corporations get hit with OFAC penalities its usually as a result of their voluntary reporting of violations. Furthermore, I’m shocked that the penalty wasn’t greater due to lack of voluntarily disclosure. It is amazing to me how companies or subsidaries of companies as big as Volvo are still able to find themselves on the wrong side of U.S. sanctions regulations. Now I’m sure Volvo has some excellent, high priced lawyers, most likely right here in Washington at some local mega firm, working for them. Maybe this was just a slip up and someone made a mistake when Volvo’s counsel was performing due diligence on the deal that allowed for these transactions to take place. Or maybe there is still not enough understanding and concern about these regulations. Either way, the word should be out by now, particularly if you are engaged in business with Cuba: if you violate the sanctions regulations, OFAC will penalize you. Which brings me to my next point/question/comment.

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