Archive for the ‘Lebanon’ Category
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012 by Holly Thorne
The Department of the Treasury published a current list of countries which require or may require participation in, or cooperation with, an international boycott (within the meaning of section 999(b)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986). The purpose of this list is to provide guidance regarding compliance with the antiboycott compliance aspects of the US tax code. While this advice is not technically specific to the antiboycott provisions in Part 760 of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), it certainly is a reasonable basis for a company to use when it decides how to allocate its compliance resources for compliance with the EAR antiboycott rules.
Treasury identified the following countries that “require or may require participation in, or cooperation with, an international boycott (within the meaning of section 999(b)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986),” e.g., the Arab boycott of Israel:
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Syria
- United Arab Emirates
- Yemen
Iraq is not included in this list, but its status with respect to future lists remains under review by the Department of the Treasury.
Posted in Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Treasury Dept, Treasury Dept, UAE | Comments Off
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011 by Holly Thorne
The Department of the Treasury has published a current list of countries which require or may require participation in, or cooperation with, an international boycott (within the meaning of section 999(b)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986).
The countries are:
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Syria
- United Arab Emirates
- Yemen
Republic of Iraq is not included in this list, but its status with respect to future lists remains under review by the Department of the Treasury.
While this list officially applies to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) antiboycott rules, it is a reasonable indicator of the high risk countries for the EAR antiboycott regulations.
Tags: Country list, international boycott
Posted in Antiboycott, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Treasury Dept, UAE, Yemen | Comments Off
Monday, June 27th, 2011 by Anna Barone
By: Anna Barone
In accordance with section 999(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the Department of the Treasury is publishing the following list of countries which require or may require participation in, or cooperation with, an international boycott:
Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen (more…)
Posted in Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Treasury Dept, UAE, Yemen | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011 by Anna Barone
The U.S. has quietly frozen weapon shipments to Lebanon’s armed forces following the collapse of the country’s pro-Western government in January, underlining growing concerns about Hezbollah’s role there.
Since 2006, the U.S. has provided more than $720 million in support to the Lebanese military, including equipment and advanced training. Between March and October 2010 alone, this support included at least $18 million worth of military equipment and ammunition, including antitank missiles and launchers. Other shipments were in the pipeline for late last year and earlier this year but it is unclear what was delivered.
A senior defense official said the Pentagon is now reviewing all U.S. security assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces “during this period of government formation.” A second U.S. official said the administration would base future decisions about security assistance, including whether to renew deliveries of lethal arms, after assessing the composition and conduct of the next government.
Defense officials say they want to keep some level of support for the Lebanese armed forces. Though weakened, officials say, the Lebanese armed forces are likely the only state institution with a chance of maintaining stability.
In talks with their U.S. counterparts, Israeli officials pushed to suspend arms transfers to Lebanon “out of fear that [arms] would end up in the wrong hands and eventually be used against us,” an Israeli official said.
More Information Available:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703806304576241132242232562.html
Posted in Defense Trade Controls, Denied & Restricted Parties, Israel, Lebanon, USA Regulations | Comments Off
Friday, October 30th, 2009 by John Black
The Department of Treasury released a list of countries that “may require participation in, or cooperation with, an international boycott (meaning of section 999(b)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986).” The following countries have been named on the list: (more…)
Posted in Antiboycott, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Treasury Dept, UAE, Yemen | Comments Off
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 by Danielle McClellan
The Department of Treasury has issued a list of countries that may or may not require participation in, or cooperation with, an international boycott. The following countries were identified:
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Syria
- United Arab Emirates
- Yemen, Republic of
It is noted by the Department of Treasury that Iraq is not included on the list but its status for future lists is continually under review.
PRACTICAL IMPACT: Of course, the US Government will never say this is a list of the only countries that might enforce with the Arab boycott of Israel. As a practical matter, US persons should use this as the list of countries where there are most likely to be antiboycott compliance issues under the IRS rules and under the Export Administration Regulations.
More information:
Federal Register, December 31, 2008
Posted in Antiboycott, EAR, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Treasury Dept, UAE, Yemen | Comments Off
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 by Danielle McClellan
On December 19, 2007, the Department of State issued an amendment to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations concerning exports and sales which were prohibited by United Nations Security Council embargoes. The amended list will add countries subject to such embargos. The current list includes: Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Liberia, North Korea, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Sudan.
More information:
Federal Register 72FR71575.pdf (PDF)
Posted in Congo, Defense Trade Controls, Embargoes, Iran, Iraq, ITAR, Lebanon, North Korea, State Dept, Sudan, USA Regulations | Comments Off
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007 by John Black
In late March, 2007, the Department of Treasury released the most current list of countries which require, or may require, cooperation with an international boycott within the meaning of section 999(b)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
The list includes:
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Syria
- United Arab Emirates
- Yemen
Republic of Iraq is not on this list but its status is currently under review by the Department of Treasury and it may be added in the future.
BOTTOM LINE:
The Treasury Department’s list is related to the antiboycott issues for companies who claim foreign tax credits when they file their tax returns, and does not legally have a direct link to the comprehensive antiboycott rules in the Export Administration Regulations. As a practical matter, however, for EAR compliance US persons (as defined the EAR antiboycott rules) should focus their antiboycott compliance resources on transactions and activities involving the above-listed countries who actively participate in the Arab League’s secondary and tertiary boycotts against Israel.
Source:
Posted in Antiboycott, EAR, Federal Register, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Treasury Dept, UAE, Yemen | Comments Off
Tuesday, February 6th, 2007 by John Black
Canadian Citizens May Seek Relief via Canadian Legal System
According to media reports, the fallout continues from conflict between tight United States ITAR requirements and Canadian defense manufacturers. US regulations prohibit Canadian citizens who have dual citizenship in a country listed in ITAR 126.1 from working on US defense projects. There are currently 19 countries whose citizens are banned from this type of work including China, Cuba, Lebanon, Syria, North Korea, Belarus, Afghanistan and Rwanda. Recently Venezuela was added to this list, which may have contributed to the termination of an employee at Montreal’s Bell Helicopter facility.
Bell Helicopter is currently working on an $849 million contract for the US Military and has had to reassign 24 employees to stay in compliance with the US regulations on who can work on their defense projects.
Jaime Vargas, a Canadian citizen with dual citizenship in Venezuela, had only worked at Bell Helicopter for several weeks when he was unexpectedly terminated. There are conflicting stories from Mr. Vargas and Bell representatives on the quality of work performed by the employee. Though Bell claims that he had performed poorly, Mr. Vargas states that he had had nothing but positive reviews and had recently been congratulated by his supervisor on the high quality of his work.
The Canadian Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations says that it will be filing a civil suit on Mr. Vargas’ behalf stating that they believe he was terminated solely based on his connection with Venezuela. They will ask for $110,000 in compensation for Mr. Vargas. The suit will be based on allegations that the termination violated Canadian Human Rights laws.
John Black’s Note: I hope Mr. Vargas wins the suit. I seriously doubt that DDTC will want to revise the ITAR if that happens, but I love it when DDTC digs in its heels and refuses to bend its policies to take into account issues outside of its own control. I look forward to the eloquent statement of the DDTC position, “We don’t care if you win a law suit, we don’t care if the ITAR causes good Canadian companies to violation Canadian laws, we aren’t changing the ITAR.”
Source: “Canoe Network Money” February 6, 2007
Full story on Canoe Network
Posted in Afghanistan, Canada, China, Cuba, Defense Trade Controls, Dual/3rd Party Nationals, ITAR, Lebanon, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Violations & Fines | Comments Off
Friday, December 15th, 2006 by Jill Kincaid
A few months ago we gave you the run down on the State Department’s announcement of its arms embargo on Lebanon. The scope of the arms embargo has not changed, but State did make it official by putting a notice in the Federal Register on December 15, 2006. There is a comprehensive embargo on ITAR exports, reexports and transfers to Lebanon, with the exception that there is no embargo for transfers specifically authorized by the Government of Lebanon or the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Posted in DDTC, Defense Trade Controls, ITAR, Lebanon, State Dept | Comments Off
