The State Department Sept. 26 authorized $457.5 million in "civilian security assistance" to Ukraine, which will help "law enforcement and criminal justice agencies to improve their operational capacity and save lives," the agency said. The U.S. has committed more than $645 million in assistance to Ukraine since December 2021, which has included "personal protective equipment, medical supplies, and armored vehicles," the agency said.
The Treasury Department is seeking public comments on an information collection related to its information sharing efforts with other government agencies. FinCEN said it “receives requests from law enforcement, reviews those requests, posts those requests on a secure internet website, and sends notifications to designated contacts within financial institutions” across the U.S. once every two weeks. Financial institutions are required to “query their records for data matches” involving certain accounts and transactions, the agency said, and “have two weeks from the posting date of the request to respond with any positive matches.” Comments on the information collection are due Oct. 27.
Linda Harris Crovella will serve as an administrative law judge of the Federal Maritime Commission, the FMC said this week. She previously served as an administrative law judge with the Social Security Administration. “The caseload of our Office of the Administrative Law Judge has sharply increased over the past two years resulting from more parties seeking relief to shipping disputes by using the formal complaints process,” FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei said. “Expanding the capabilities and resources of this critical function supports my priority that the Commission emphasize its enforcement work.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security extended the comment period for an information collection related to international import certificates (see 2206100006). Importers use the certificate to certify to the U.S. government that they won’t reexport the goods “except in accordance with the export control regulations” of the U.S. BIS is allowing for another 30 days of public comments.
The State Department will hold a closed meeting of its International Security Advisory Board next month to discuss various national defense and foreign policy issues. Topics for the Oct. 18 meeting include arms control, nonproliferation and “national security aspects of emerging technologies,” the agency said.
The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed by one month a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), the two ports announced Sept. 23. The ports had planned to begin imposing the fee in November 2021 but postponed it each week until July 29, when the ports announced their first one-month postponement (see 2207290053). The latest one-month extension delays the effective date until Oct. 21.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on the potential market impact of the proposed FY 2024 National Defense Stockpile Annual Materials Plan, BIS said in a Sept. 23 notice. Comments will help inform the government of the “projected domestic and foreign economic effects of all acquisitions, conversions, and disposals involving the National Defense Stockpile,” BIS said. Comments are due Oct. 24.
The Federal Maritime Commission this week issued a notice that seeks public comments on the set of factors it should consider when determining whether an ocean carrier is violating shipping regulations by refusing vessel space to shippers. The FMC also seeks comments on how it should define “unreasonable” conduct by ocean carriers, specifically their “unreasonable refusal to deal or negotiate with respect to vessel space accommodation.” Comments on the notice of proposed rulemaking, which the FMC previewed last week (see 2209130040), are due Oct. 21.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission released a report this week on the risks from the potential “widespread adoption” of LOGINK, China’s global logistics management platform. The report said LOGINK, also known as China’s National Transportation and Logistics Public Information Platform, works with more than 20 global ports and could provide the Chinese government with a range of critical data on “shipping information, cargo valuations via customs clearance forms, and destination and routing information.”
The State Department on Sept. 17 sent a final rule for interagency review to expand the types of defense items and services that can be exported under defense trade treaties with Australia and the U.K. and under the agency’s Canadian exemptions. The rule will also make “clarifying amendments and conforming updates” to U.S. Munitions List categories IV and XII, including for certain “night vision entries.”