The United Kingdom published a list of training events that will be hosted in different locations throughout the September through April 2022 time period, for firms needing to comply with British export control laws run by the Export Control Joint Unit. Training will be offered in Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Plymouth and Southampton and will cost either 120 or 180 pounds. The U.K.'s Department for International Trade said the events serve companies of all sizes, a wide range of knowledge levels and varied learning paths.
The Swiss Federal Council implemented greater restrictions on trade with Belarus Aug. 11 in response to the continuing repression of civil society and the opposition, the council said. The new sanctions package includes restrictions on trade in monitoring equipment, dual-use goods and technologies, petroleum and potassium chloride products, and goods used for tobacco production. Further, the council placed limits on the “issuance of and trading in certain financial instruments," along with the provision of loans and insurance to the Belarusian government. The country also imposed specific financial sanctions on Belaeronavigatsia, Belarus' state-owed air navigation services provider.
Dutch customs recently announced it will increase monitoring of import declarations for certain sectors, including in the textile, biodiesel, e-commerce and e-bike industries, KPMG said Aug. 12. The Netherlands said it will specifically monitor the customs value and tariff classification for clothing imported from China, Vietnam, India and others; increase monitoring of the origin and tariff classification for biodiesel and used cooking oil from the U.S.; more “intensively” audit e-commerce consignments; and more closely scrutinize the origin and customs value of all imported e-bikes. Although the customs agency said it will target those import declarations, other imports may “also be subject to additional scrutiny,” KPMG said.
Exports of legal services from the United Kingdom to Australia are expected to see big gains under the new trade agreement between the two countries, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said Aug. 13. Due to guarantees from Australia, British lawyers can continue to provide their services in Australia “using their existing qualifications with more clarity and certainty,” the U.K. said. Covered services include arbitration, conciliation and mediation. Bureaucratic hurdles in obtaining the necessary licenses will be slashed as well, the U.K. said. Eligibility for junior lawyers seeking to work in Australia was increased to 35 years old from 30, the news release said.
Tarif Akhras, founder of the Akhras Group and chairman of Syria's Homs Chamber of Commerce, was removed from the United Kingdom's Syrian sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Notice said in a financial sanctions notice Aug. 12. The delisting notice provided no explanation for his removal.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated six total listings under their Belarus and Global Anti-Corruption sanctions regimes Aug. 12, changing four and two listings, respectively, in two financial sanctions notices. The altered listings under the Belarus sanctions scheme were for Mikhail Safarbekovich Gutseriev, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and his son, Viktor Aliaksandravich Lukashenko, and Igor Petrovich Sergeenko. The changes under the global anti-corruption sanctions were for Alvaro Enrique Pulido Vargas and Alex Nain Saab Moran.
The European Union's blocking statute should be revised due to the increasing complexity and proliferation of extra-territorial sanctions and the bloc's "strong exposure to certain third countries," the European Commission suggested in a recently published impact assessment of the statute. The blocking regulations are meant to protect EU businesses from extra-territorial sanctions, including those imposed by the U.S., which are increasingly leading to global sanctions compliance issues in Europe (see 2108020030 and 2002190038).
Russia imposed sanctions on a “proportionate” number of British citizens in response to the United Kingdom's anti-corruption sanctions listings on Russian individuals (see 2104270017), the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Aug. 9, according to an unofficial translation. The sanctions include a travel ban, but the Russian government did not specify how many or which individuals are sanctioned. “We consider these groundless attacks by London to be a clear demonstration of the true intentions of the country's leadership with regard to further building its course in the Russian direction, namely, the desire to conduct destructive activities on the bilateral track,” the foreign ministry said. “We state that after leaving the [European Union], Great Britain stepped up even more in building up sanctions tools, including for demonstrating leadership in the campaign of denigrating Russia.”
The International Dairy Foods Association lauded the delay in new health certificate requirements for dairy and infant formula, and said the extra months give U.S. and European officials more time to discuss how to implement the regulatory change. IDFA had said that the certificates could have disrupted supply chains for nutrition support drinks and infant formula even if European consumers were not the ultimate customers, as long as the exports went through Europe (see 2107260033).
The European Council removed Navy Cmdr. Bion Na Tchongo and Capt. Paulo Sunsai from its Guinea-Bissau sanctions regime in an Aug. 5 implementing regulation. Both listings were originally made in 2012 in response to their roles in “threatening the peace, security or stability of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.”