In an update to our prior post published on March 8, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and State Department published additional actions against Russia in response to the poisoning of Aleksey Navalny on March 18. The new sanctions and export controls are summarized below.

Bureau of Industry and Security

The Secretary of State determined, pursuant to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act), that Russia used chemical or biological weapons in violation of international law or lethal chemical or biological weapons against its own nationals.

• The sanctions imposed on Russia prohibit the export of national security-controlled goods and technology subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). BIS already maintains controls on exports and reexports of national security-controlled items to Russia that are subject to the EAR, which include commodities, software and technology.
• Certain license exceptions will be suspended for national security-controlled items destined for Russia and most license applications for exports or reexports of national security-controlled items to Russia will be reviewed under a presumption of denial.

State Department

The Department of State amended the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to include Russia on the list of countries that the U.S. denies licenses and other approvals for exports and/or imports of defense articles and defense services.

The Secretary of State determined it is in the national security interest of the U.S. to partially waive the application of the sanctions required under the CBW Act with respect to foreign assistance, licenses for the export of items on the U.S. Munitions List (USML), and the licensing of national security-sensitive goods and technology. This provides notice of sanctions that will be imposed.