The United Kingdom will apply a tariff rate quota on imports of certain steel imports from certain countries after Brexit, the U.K. said in a Sept. 30 notice. The TRQ will apply to a range of steel products, including metallic coated sheets, stainless wire rods, railway material, gas pipes and non-alloy wire. The U.K. published a document containing the product categories, their commodity codes and the TRQs for each country.

The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Sept. 28 released its quarterly report, covering Jan. 1 to March 31, 2020, on its sanctions regimes. The report contains OFSI’s sanctions statistics, including the number of accounts the agency has frozen, the total value of funds it has blocked, the number of new designations last quarter and other licensing statistics.

The European Commission issued a notice Sept. 16 on European Union dual-use export controls if the United Kingdom leaves the EU without a deal. The commission reminded dual-use traders that items exported from the EU to the U.K. will require a license after the transition period, which ends Dec. 31, and traders will no longer be able to rely on U.K. licenses for shipments from the EU to a third country. Traders also will not be able to rely on licenses issued by another EU member state to export dual-use goods located in the U.K. to a third country. The EC advised exporters to seek information from their country’s licensing authority “regarding the handling of relevant export scenarios” post-transition.

The United Kingdom is seeking comments, due Oct. 5, on the future of its autonomous tariff rate quota for raw cane sugar after it officially leaves the European Union next year, the U.K.’s Department for International Trade said Sept. 14. It wants feedback on whether the U.K. should impose a tariff rate quota, the “volume of an ATQ” that industry would prefer, if at all, and the quota's impact on industry sectors or businesses in the U.K.

Germany's Freie Demokraten Party introduced a motion in the Bundestag to impose sanctions on human rights abusers, the EU Sanctions blog reported Sept. 9. The sanctions would be modeled after the Global Magnitsky Sanctions and would target those responsible for “political murders, torture and mistreatment,” the party said Sept. 9, according to an unofficial translation of a press release. The FDP said it wants to create a sanctions regime that can target individual human rights abusers instead of a whole country or “entire society,” which could “worsen the human rights situation.”

The European Union extended by six months sanctions against people and entities threatening the independence of Ukraine, the European Council said Sept. 10. Now expiring March 15, the sanctions continue to impose travel restrictions and asset freezes on 175 people and 44 entities.

The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Sept. 9 renewed two designations under its terrorism and terrorist financing sanctions regime. OFSI renewed the designations for Colombia's Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (National Liberation Army) and Peru's Communist Party, Sendero Luminoso, also known as Shining Path.

The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation corrected an entry under its sanctions for Guinea-Bissau, OFSI said Sept. 9. The correction amends the entry for Col. Tomas Djassi, commander of Guinea-Bissau’s National Guard. Djassi remains subject to an asset freeze.

The United Kingdom officially began talks with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership about joining the trade area, the U.K. said Sept. 9. The U.K.’s Department for International Trade said the country has held “preparatory conversations” with CPTPP members, but the current talks mark the first negotiations on accession.

A United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation notice, updated Sept. 3, details its annual frozen asset review and reporting form for 2020. All people or companies that hold or control funds belonging to sanctioned individuals must complete the and submit the form to OFSI by Oct. 16.