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18 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ? JUNE 2013 LEGAL BEAT Annual Economic Sanctions UpdateIran Continues to Dominate U.S. Sanctions headlinesSince last year?s update appeared in the May 2012 issue of Mari-time Reporter & Engineer- ing News, Iran has continued to dominate U.S. sanctions headlines. SigniÞ cant actions by both the U.S. Congress and Department of the Trea- sury?s Of Þ ce of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over the past year have in- creased sanctions against Iran substan-tially, and further initiatives are pend- ing. Our 2013 update concentrates on these key developments, with particular focus on Iran sanctions of interest to the maritime community. The most sweeping legislative devel-opment during the past year was the August 10, 2012 enactment of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (the ITRA), which included amendments to the Iran Sanc-tions Act of 1996 (the ISA), the Com- prehensive Iran Sanctions, Account- ability and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA), and the National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2012 (the NDAA 2012). The ITRA expanded the categories of activities sanctionable under the ISA to include:? participation in certain petro- leum joint ventures; ? provision of goods, services, tech- nology or support that could directly and signiÞ cantly contribute to the maintenance or enhancement of Iran?s ability to develop domestic pe- troleum resources or its domestic pro- duction of petrochemical products; ? ownership, operation, control or insurance of a vessel used to trans-port crude oil from Iran to another country;? concealing the Iranian origin of crude oil or re Þ ned petroleum products; ? export, transfer or facilitation of transshipment of goods, services or technology to Iran, directly or indirectly, that would contribute materially to Iran?s WMD and con- ventional military capabilities; and ? participation in certain joint ven- tures relating to the mining, produc- tion or transportation of uranium. Several of these provisions, together with a broader deÞ nition of the term ?services? used throughout the ISA, have a signiÞ cant impact on the mari- time industry. In March of this year, the U.S. Department of State acted to im-pose sanctions against a Greek national and shipping company for concealing the Iranian origin of crude oil ? one of the new heads of sanctionable activity. At the same time, two insurance com-panies were sanctioned under the ISA for providing insurance or reinsurance to the National Iranian Tanker Com- pany (NITC).Other provisions of the ITRA, includ-ing amendments to CISADA and the NDAA 2012, imposed additional sanc- tions targeting Iran?s petroleum, ship- ping, insurance and Þ nancial sectors. In late 2012, Congress also included additional sanctions in the National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2013 (the NDAA 2013). Building on the ITRA, the NDAA 2013 requires imposition of additional sanctions with respect to the energy, shipping and shipbuilding sectors of Iran for conduct occurring on or after July 1 of 2013, as follows:? subject to certain exceptions, in- cluding for transactions involving food, agricultural commodities, medicine, medical devices and hu-manitarian assistance, ISA sanc- tions are to be imposed against persons who knowingly sell, supply or transfer to or from Iran signi Þ -cant goods or services used in con-nection with the energy, shipping or shipbuilding sectors of Iran, in-cluding by companies such as the National Iranian Oil Company, the NITC, and the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines; ? subject to an exception for per- sons exercising appropriate due diligence, ISA sanctions are re- quired to be imposed against per- sons who sell, supply or transfer, directly or indirectly, to or from Iran, precious metals or graphite, Barbara D. Linney is a member of the Washington, D.C. Þ rm Miller & Chevalier Chartered, practicing in the area of inter- national trade and transactions.e: Linney@milchev.com Kevin J. Miller is an International Trade Specialist at Miller & Chevalier. e: KMiller@milchev.com *This article reß ects developments through May 15, 2013, the date of submission for publication. The views expressed herein are those of the authors, do not necessarily re- ß ect the opinion of the Þ rm or other members of the Þ rm, and should not be construed as legal advice or opinion or a substitute for the advice of counsel. Please contact Barbara Linney (BLinney@milchev. com) at (202) 626-5806 if you have questions or desire assistance. MR #6 (18-25).indd 18MR #6 (18-25).indd 185/31/2013 4:22:05 PM5/31/2013 4:22:05 PM
