The European Council and European Parliament signed a regulation to fund customs control equipment, a June 24 EC news release said. The new funding will support the purchase, maintenance and upgrade of such items as X-ray scanners, radiation detectors, automated number plate recognition systems and mobile laboratories for goods sample analysis. The increased funding is part of the European Union's 2021-2027 budget and has a ceiling of around 1 billion euros.

Belgium’s Parliament is considering another extension for its reduced value-added taxes on certain COVID-19 related goods and lower interest rates on late VATs and duty payments, KPMG said June 25. The reduced VAT rates for masks and hydroalcoholic gels, which were set to expire June 30 (see 2103310006), would continue to apply through September, KPMG said. The reduced interest rates would also be reduced for July, August and September.

The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation has amended the entry for Andrei Mikalaevich Gurtsevich under the Belarus sanctions regime, it said in a June 25 financial sanctions notice. Gurtsevich remains subject to an asset freeze, according to the notice.

The European Commission kicked off an antidumping proceeding on imports of corrosion resistant steels from Russia and Turkey, the EC announced in a June 24 notice. In particular, the products under investigation are “flat-rolled products of iron or alloy steel or non-alloy steel; plated or coated by hot dip galvanisation with zinc and/or aluminium and/or magnesium, whether or not alloyed with silicon; chemically passivated; with or without any additional surface treatment such as oiling or sealing; containing by weight: not more than 0,5% of carbon, not more than 1,1% of aluminium, not more than 0,12% of niobium, not more than 0,17% of titanium and not more than 0,15% of vanadium; presented in coils, cut-to-length sheets and narrow strips,” according to the notice. Products of stainless steel, silicon-electrical steel, high-speed steel, steel not further worked than hot-rolled or cold-rolled are exempt from the investigation. To submit information to be considered, relevant parties must make their submissions within 70 days from the publication of the antidumping initiation notice.

The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on June 22 published an updated version of its guidance for the financial sanctions on Russian individuals and entities. The guidance provides information on loan and credit arrangements, financial service restrictions and frequently asked questions, among other concerns.

The United Kingdom's quest to fill 12 spots on the Department for International Trade's Trade and Agriculture Commission has been extended to 11:55 p.m. GMT on July 4, according to a June 23 update from the department. The TAC is an independent expert committee made up of trade and agriculture specialists who survey potential new free trade agreements in the U.K. Interested applicants should submit the relevant forms to TACSecretariat@trade.gov.uk by the new deadline.

Russian nationals, Rostec Corporation CEO Sergye Chemezov and VSMPO-AVISMA Vice Chairman MIkhail Shelkov, along with Ukranian businessmen Dmitry Firtash and Pavel Fuks, were sanctioned by the Ukranian National Security and Defense Council, according to a June 18 press release. Firtash was listed since his titanium companies allegedly "supplied raw materials to Russian military enterprises," while Fuks made the list for violations in securing licenses for the development of hydrocarbon deposits.

The Court of Justice of the European Union found that Venezuela has standing to challenge restrictions made on it by the Council of the EU, according to a June 22 judgment. The CJEU, which overturned a General Court of the European Union ruling that came to the opposite conclusion, said Venezuela can challenge the financial sanctions in European court because the measures are liable to harm Venezuela's economic interests. The General Court originally found that Venezuela had no standing to bring a complaint because it is not an EU member state and had not shown it was directly affected by the sanctions.

The United Kingdom was to begin negotiations June 22 to join the 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Department of International Trade said in a news release. The agreement would welcome the U.K. as its first European member and lower trading barriers for British goods such as whisky and cars.

The United Kingdom finished the fifth round of negotiations on a free trade agreement with New Zealand, reaching an agreement on disputes, transparency and gender equality in trade, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade announced in a June 18 news release. “Both sides are committed to striking a modern, liberalising agreement that forges closer ties between two island democracies that believe in free and fair trade,” U.K. International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said. “I am pushing UK interests hard in areas like services, mobility and investment, and want a deal that cuts tariffs on our exports, makes it easier for our service providers to sell into New Zealand, and delivers for consumers here at home.” The U.K.-New Zealand trading relationship was worth 2.3 billion pounds in 2020.