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Maria Alejandra (Jana) del-Cerro is a partner in Crowell & Moring's Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s International Trade and Government Contracts groups. She advises clients with respect to the U.S. regulation of outbound trade, including U.S. export controls. Jana works with clients across a broad range of industries, from traditional aerospace and defense manufacturers and multi-national software companies, to start-ups in the technology sector, and she regularly represents them before the Departments of State, Commerce, and Treasury in responding to government inquiries, conducting internal reviews, and in compliance investigations and voluntary disclosures.

On August 23rd, 2024, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the U.S. Department of State (State), and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) acted against Russia’s international supply chains.

OFAC and State collectively sanctioned nearly 400 individuals and entities. Of note, this included a substantial focus on

On August 20, 2024, the Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) published an interim final rule to streamline defense trade between and among Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States in furtherance of the trilateral security partnership (the “AUKUS” partnership). The interim final rule implements the proposed rule DDTC published

On August 15, 2024, the DDTC published a final rule to expand the ITAR’s definition of “activities that are not exports, reexports, retransfers, or temporary imports.”  The final rule implements the amendments the DDTC originally proposed on December 16, 2022 with six changes.  The rule is effective on September 16, 2024 and codifies longstanding DDTC

On July 25, 2024, the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce issued new proposed rules that, if implemented, would (1) increase the restrictions associated with U.S. persons providing services in support of non-U.S. military-related end users / uses; and (2) implement new controls associated with exports, reexports, and transfers of items subject to the EAR

On July 10, 2024, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released guidance to provide helpful “best practices” for companies and universities who have received a “supplier list” letters, Project Guardian requests, “red flag” letters, or “is informed” letters from BIS.

These notifications generally require the recipients of the letter to take

On June 20, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security announced its first Final Determination pursuant to the Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain (ICTS) regulations, prohibiting Kaspersky Lab, Inc. from providing anti-virus software and cybersecurity products or services in the United States or to U.S. persons

On May 1, 2024, the Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) published a proposed rule that, if implemented, would streamline defense trade between and among Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States in furtherance of the trilateral security partnership (the “AUKUS” partnership).

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The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or the “Committee”) has published proposed regulatory amendments that, if implemented, would expand CFIUS’s authority to seek information for non-notified transactions, establish timelines for parties to respond to CFIUS’s mitigation proposals, and increase penalties for certain violations to the greater of $5 million or the

On April 19, 2024, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to enhance technological innovation and support the goals of the AUKUS trilateral security partnership.

The interim final rule makes six primary export control policy changes that effectively provide Australia and the UK nearly the same

On Thursday, April 18, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced new sanctions on Iran following its April 13, 2024 attack on Israel. OFAC designated 16 individuals and ten entities as Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN), specifically those involved in Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), steel, and