OFAC’s Licensing Division Changes Its Case Numbering System Format
OFAC states that, for the time being, the old licensing case numbering system will not disappear completely. An amended version of a license that was originally issued prior to March 26, 2012, will continue to follow the original license case number system, i.e., alphabetical characters for the sanctions program followed by the existing license number and an alphabetical character, as in the past.
DDTC No Longer Accepts Paper Submissions of Agreements and Commodity Jurisdiction Requests
Effective September 1, 2010, DDTC-Licensing no longer accepts unclassified paper submissions of Technical Assistance Agreements, Manufacturing License Agreements, and Warehouse Distribution Agreements (to include major amendments). All submissions must now be made electronically via D-Trade 2 utilizing the DSP-5 form. Guidelines for Preparing Electronic Agreements can be accessed here.
Effective September 3, 2010, DDTC-Policy no longer accepts paper submissions of Commodity Jurisdiction (CJ) requests. All CJ requests must now be made electronically via EFS utilizing the DS-4076 Commodity Jurisdiction Request Form. Instructions for CJ requests can be found here.
OFAC Issues Quarterly Report of TSRA Licensing Activities
The report sets forth the number of license applications, licenses issued, license amendments issues, and applications denied by agricultural commodities, medicine, or medical devices categories, as well as by country (i.e., Iran or Sudan). The average processing time was as follows:
- Denial Letters - 116 days
- Licenses - 60 days
- Return Without Action (RWA) Letters - 16 days
- Overall - 49 days
BIS Posts Notice on Transfer of Export Licenses
Under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), BIS issues individual export licenses to parties. In some instances, ownership of the party/licensee changes due to mergers and acquisitions. This may result in a change to the license if the party to whom the license was issued no longer exists, or is no longer engaged in exporting. The EAR contains a procedure under Section 750.10 that provides for the transfer of export licenses in such circumstances. Persons planning corporate mergers, transfers, or acquisitions should consider whether any existing export licenses will need to be transferred and should consult Section 750.10(b) which provides detailed instructions. Please note that the transfer of an export license must be requested by the licensee, therefore, any request for a transfer of a license that is the result of a corporate transaction in which the licensee will cease to exist as a legal entity must be made prior to the licensee ceasing to exist.