export-controls 13 June 2019

Huawei on CISTEC ‘chaser list’

Japan’s Nikkei news agency reports that Chinese telecoms company Huawei, recently placed on the United States Department of Commerce Entity List, has also been placed on the ‘chaser list’ compiled by Japan’s Center for Information on Security Trade Control (‘CISTEC’). The agency explains that the chaser list includes ‘groups of potential concern to exporters’, including companies subject to the sanctions of other countries, including the US, EU and others, or ‘that are suspected of contributing to the development of weapons of mass destruction.’

A number of Japanese companies have already made public statements to the effect that they have or intend to sever commercial ties with Huawei.

Nikkei says, ‘Inclusion in the Chaser database has no legally binding effect, but many Japanese enterprises involved in exporting products such as chips, electronic components or machine tools refer to it in order to avoid potential pitfalls.’

As noted in the June issue (no. 80) of WorldECR, ‘The US’s punitive stance towards ZTE and Huawei has… posed a dilemma for Japanese businesses trading with these technology companies, given how closely intertwined are commercial relationships between Japan and China.’