MK Data Services News & Events

November 18, 2024

Dear Valued Clients,

On November 18, 2024, the European Union (EU) adopted Council Regulation 2024/2894. This amended Regulation 2023/1529 and Regulation 2023/1532, concerning restrictive measures in view of Iran’s military support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and to armed groups and entities in the Middle East and the Red Sea region.

Regulation 2024/2894 introduces further restrictive measures targeting Iran's supply of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and missiles to Russia. Annex IV of the regulation lists all ports and locks that are owned, operated or controlled by entities found in Annex III, and used for the transfer of Iranian UAVs, missiles or related technologies to Russia. Engaging in any transaction, directly or indirectly, with the listed ports and locks (Amirabad Port and Anzali Port) is prohibited.

However, the prohibition does not apply in the case of a vessel seeking refuge, of an emergency port call for reasons of maritime safety, for saving life at sea, humanitarian purposes, the urgent prevention of an event that will seriously impact human or environmental health and safety, or a response to natural disasters.

Additionally, the regulation freezes all funds and economic resources, and prohibits the export, sale, transfer or supply from the EU to Iran of any and all components, used in the development and production of UAVs and missiles. The frozen assets may be released by competent authorities if they are necessary for ground handling services or critical and clearly defined air safety measures, as determined by the EU Aviation Safety Agency.

To learn more about Regulation 2024/2894, please reference the Official Journal provided: 

June 13, 2024

Our commitment to providing you with comprehensive and accurate information has always been a priority at Descartes Denied Party Screening. Thus, it is imperative for us to inform you about the latest changes made by the BIS. This Federal Register announced additions to the Entity List and changes to the Entity List structure. The additions included eight additional addresses but lacked corresponding names. This unusual deviation from the standard practice has created a challenging situation for all parties involved in screening their business partners effectively.

“The ERC determined to add eight addresses under the destination of China to the Entity List.  These addresses are associated with significant transshipment of sensitive goods to Russia. BIS has verified that these addresses are associated with a significant number of entities, whose activities risk violating the EAR.  These risks include associations with parties on the Entity List or the Unverified List at the listed addresses.  These activities are contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests under §744.11 of the EAR.  Licenses will be required for all entities at these addresses for all items on the Commerce Control List and supplement no. 7 of section 746 of the EAR and subject to the EAR.  License applications will be reviewed with a license review policy of presumption of denial.”

While we strive to maintain an up-to-date and useful database for our customers' benefit, this unforeseen occurrence may present changes to your screening process. We understand the significance of having both names and addresses associated with sanctioned individuals or entities to facilitate proper due diligence and risk assessment processes. Consequently, we share your concern about this anomaly, and we are actively working towards mitigating its impact on your screening procedures. We think it is important for us to highlight this and bring it to your attention.  

As an interim solution, we have added these addresses with name as China, People’s Republic of:

Name	Street	City	Country Name
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Unit D, 16/F One Capital Place, 18 Luard Rd, Wan Chai,	Hong Kong	Hong Kong
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Unit D, 16/F One Capital Place, 18 Luard Rd, Wan Chai,	Hong Kong	China
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Unit 04, 7/F Bright Way Tower, No. 33 Mong Kok Road,	Kowloon, Hong Kong	Hong Kong
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Unit 04, 7/F Bright Way Tower, No. 33 Mong Kok Road,	Kowloon, Hong Kong	China
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Room 19C Lockhart Centre 301-307, Lockhart Rd. Wan Chai,	Hong Kong	Hong Kong
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Room 19C Lockhart Centre 301-307, Lockhart Rd. Wan Chai,	Hong Kong	China
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Room 803, Chevalier House 45-51, Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui,	Hong Kong	Hong Kong
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Room 803, Chevalier House 45-51, Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui,	Hong Kong	China
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Flat/RM 2309, 23/F, Ho King Commercial Centre, 2-16 Fa Yuen Street, Mong Ko,	Kowloon, Hong Kong	Hong Kong
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Flat/RM 2309, 23/F, Ho King Commercial Centre, 2-16 Fa Yuen Street, Mong Kok,	Kowloon, Hong Kong	China
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Office 4, 16/F Ho King Commercial Centre, 2-16 Fayuen Street,	Hong Kong	Hong Kong
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Office 4, 16/F Ho King Commercial Centre, 2-16 Fayuen Street,	Hong Kong	China
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Room 1318-19, 13F, Hollywood Plaza, 610 Nathan Road, Mong Kok,	Kowloon, Hong Kong	Hong Kong
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Room 1318-19, 13F, Hollywood Plaza, 610 Nathan Road, Mong Kok,	Kowloon, Hong Kong	China
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Room 1318-20, 13F, Hollywood Plaza, 610 Nathan Road, Mong Kok,	Kowloon, Hong Kong	Hong Kong
CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF	Room 1318-20, 13F, Hollywood Plaza, 610 Nathan Road, Mong Kok,	Kowloon, Hong Kong	China

The Federal Register notice is scheduled to be officially published on June 18th and is available for public inspection here.  Our database will be updated today and content will be pushed out to our client servers tonight.

February 01, 2022

On December 23, The United States signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) into law. The UFLPA paves the way for stricter import restrictions and sanctions against China. For more information, please watch our video below to learn how you can stay in compliance with the new law.

October 15, 2021

Descartes MK Denied Party Screening invites you to find out how automated screening for denied parties in Netsuite simultaneously helps organizations meet their international trade compliance obligations with ease and accelerate business growth. Please watch our webinar session below to learn more!

October 07, 2021

Descartes MK Denied Party Screening invites you to attend and learn about our screening solutions for Netsuite & Salesforce! Our fully integrated solutions allow you to perform automated screening of your business partners, review hits and change the status of records all without leaving your environment.

To learn more and see a demonstration of our applications, please register below. Both webinars are free to attend and we encourage you to extend this invite to anyone that is interested!

June 22, 2021

In June 2021, The Government of China adopted the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, granting China a legal avenue to publish sanction lists. For more information, please watch our video below to learn how you can stay in compliance with the new law.

DECEMBER 14, 2020

At the end of this month, European Sanctions previously adopted by the UK will no longer apply. For more information, please watch our video below to learn how you can stay in compliance with UK Sanctions after Brexit.

SEPTEMBER 02, 2020

Descartes is exploring expanding our Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) list. The new list would expand Descartes offering of PEPs from about 50,000 names to over 1.4M.

We are looking for feedback from our current PEP subscribers in order to determine the value the expansion would bring to you.

The features of the new PEP list are below:

Expansion of list of PEPs and their associates: The new PEP list would include significantly more PEPs from high ranking national officials to members of local governments and their close associates. 

PEP Owned Entities: As a separate list, Descartes will also offer PEP owned entities. This will allow for screening against companies that could be used for indirect payments to PEPs for bribery and corruption purposes.

Please fill out the short survey below to help Descartes best understand your needs.

Thank you!

JULY 09, 2020

In recent weeks, there have been growing conversations in regards to forced labor and human rights abuses. 

On July 1, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an advisory about the human rights violations in Xinjiang China. In the advisory, OFAC recommends caution when importing goods from that region, as forced labor is highly rampant in the area. Here is a link to that advisory:

OFAC Risks and Considerations for Businesses with Supply Chain Exposure to Entities Engaged in Forced Labor and other Human Rights Abuses in Xinjiang

On July 6, the United Kingdom released the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020. These are sanctions against those who participate in human rights abuse or violations worldwide.  The UK published these sanctions autonomously, and separately from the European Union. 

Descartes currently offers several lists in relation to forced labor and human rights abuse, and we are continuing to explore sources to expand our offering in this area. The lists below come from different packages within our current offering.

The new UK Global Human Rights Sanctions have been added to the existing BOE list. The BOE list also includes financial sanctions placed by the UK and European Union, and entities subject to the Capital Market Restrictions.

BOE will continue to reflect sanctions from both of those programs.

This list contains materials and manufacturers that have been found to use forced labor in their operations to produce their products.  The CBP issues Withhold and Release Orders (WROs) when material is determined to be sourced unethically. The CBPFL list contains the companies with WROs open against them.

The Bureau of Industries and Securities added Chinese private and government entities to the Entity List in 2019 due to human rights abuses. These additions will require companies to obtain licenses prior to exporting goods to those entities. 

OFAC published eight Chinese names from the Xinjiang region to the SDN list on July 9, 2020. These are the first entries on the SDN list in relation to forced labor.

This list published by the Brazilian government contains companies that are known to have slave labor like conditions. This includes inhospitable working conditions, exhausting hours, forced labor and debt bondage.

These lists come from various packages. For pricing information, please contact your sales agent or info@descartes.com.

NOVEMBER 05, 2018

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took a number of actions in connection with the full re-imposition of sanctions on Iran. OFAC has confirmed that persons and associated blocked property that were previously identified on the Executive Order (E.O.) 13599 List have been moved to the SDN List.  OFAC has removed the E.O. 13599 List from its website.

Descartes MK Denied Party Screening (DPS) introduced the list code IRAN in 2016 to identify individuals and entities under the (EO) 13599. 
As of today, Descartes MK Denied Party Screening (DPS) is retiring the list code “IRAN”. Individuals and Entities that were previously identified under the List Code IRAN has been moved over to SDNR (Specially Designated National, Iran).  

Depending on your settings you will see a delisted entry under the code IRAN which will contain this note “Persons and associated blocked property that were previously identified under list code IRAN have been moved to the SDNR list.”   As stated there will be an active entry under SDNR or other appropriate codes. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please email servicedesk@descartes.com with MK DPS in the subject. 

OCTOBER 24, 2018

OFAC SDN List Update: North Korea Designations; North Korea Administrative Update; Counter Terrorism Designations. Over 1,000 OFAC records affected.

NOVEMBER 13, 2017

Evolution is the premier event that gathers together Descartes customers and business partners from around the world to network with each other, meet the Descartes product management team, provide input and feedback on Descartes’ product direction, and to learn more about opportunities for improving operations through the growing portfolio of Descartes solutions.

We are excited to announce Evolution 2018, March 6-8, 2018 at the Hilton West Palm Beach in Florida. With 80+ sessions and amazing customer speakers, the 2018 conference reflects our continued dedication to help our customers be more successful. Sessions will provide better insight into our solutions, the successful strategies and tactics of other customers, and the best-practices that produce meaningful results. We are also expanding the event’s ecommerce focus as ecommerce continues to redefine many industries and the importance of the role that the supply chain plays. There is no other logistics or supply chain event like it! Check out the conference program here.

For more information and to register, visit the Descartes website at https://www.descartes.com/usergroup.

OCTOBER 16, 2017

While there is no universally agreed upon definition of politically exposed persons, the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF) defines a PEP as an individual with substantial political influence or who fulfills a prominent public function. Many countries have initiated or are revisiting anti-corruption laws targeting PEPs and the impact of violating PEP laws can be extensive and costly.

Read more about compliance regulations concerning PEPs on the Descartes' blog.

JULY 31, 2017

Businesses today are well aware of cyber-related sanctions and maintain a standard checks and balances process to reduce risk and maintain compliance with government regulations. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control is now populating Denied Party Screening (DPS) lists with names and companies utilizing DPS software are taking steps to avoid business transactions with individuals, entities or organizations associated with cyber-crime as per U.S. watch lists.

Read more about countering cyber threats with Denied Party Screening on the Descartes’ blog.