The European Union added four Russian individuals to its sanctions list for serious human rights violations, including the arbitrary arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the crackdown on the subsequent protests, the European Council announced in a March 2 press release. The sanctioned individuals are Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation; Igor Krasnov, the Prosecutor-General; Viktor Zolotov, head of the National Guard; and Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the Federal Prison Service. The restrictive measures consist of a travel ban and asset freeze, and people and entities in the EU are forbidden from making funds available to the listed individuals. These sanctions mark the first use of the new EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, established on Dec. 7, 2020, that permits the EU to use sanctions for human-rights related purposes including genocide, slavery, arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings and other violations.

The United Kingdom announced further sanctions on six members of Myanmar's State Administration Council -- the ruling body established following the Feb. 1 coup. The move expands the sanctions list to all military members of the council, stopping them from traveling to the U.K. and preventing businesses and institutions from interacting with them, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced Feb. 25. The six individuals are Commander-in-Chief Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, Secretary of the SAC Lt. Gen. Aung Lin Dwe, Joint Secretary of the SAC Lt. Gen. Ye Win Oo, Gen. Tin Aung San, General Maung Maung Kyaw and Lt. Gen. Moe Myint Tun. The U.K. also will temporarily suspend all promotion of trade with Myanmar while a Trade Review is conducted to “work with British businesses and civil society to reshape our approach to trade,” the news release said.

The European Commission initiated an investigation to assess whether to extend beyond June 30 safeguard measures on imports of certain steel products. The investigation, announced in a Feb. 26 news release, will explore whether the measures continue to be necessary to protect the EU steel industry. In effect since July 2018, the safeguard measures include tariff-rate quotas above which a 25% duty is levied. Companies and individuals have 15 days to publish comments on the safeguard measures, and the commission will issue questionnaires to insdustry stakeholders, the release said. Member states will ultimately vote on the proposal, with a final decision before the end of June.

Germany will now generally issue export permits electronically, using the platform to issue permits, null notifications, trade information and extensions, and changes to notices in foreign trade law, the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control said, according to an unofficial translation. The switch, effective March 1, takes place on Germany's ELAN-K2 filing portal. The German government will still issue general permits, permits for repeated export after previous import and transit permits in writing, and it reserves the right to issue any approval in writing if it is needed, it said.

The European Union is extending sanctions it has in place on 88 individuals and 7 entities until Feb. 28, 2022, for their roles in enacting electoral fraud and the current regime's violent repression of the opposition and protesters in Belarus. In a Feb. 25 press release, the European Council announced the continuation, which includes President Alexandr Lukashenko and consists of a travel ban and asset freeze on listed individuals and an asset freeze on the entities. The sanctions were initially put in place following the fraudulent presidential election in August 2020 and ensuing wave of violently repressed demonstrations.

The European Union Foreign Affairs Council recommended placing restrictive measures on the individuals responsible for the arrest and persecution of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, European Commission High Representative Josep Borrell announced in a Feb. 22 press briefing. The sanctions, which include an asset freeze and travel ban, would mark the first use of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime that became law in December (see 2012070010). The decision to impose these sanctions will now be subject to an administrative review by the European Council where they will likely be ultimately decided and imposed within a week, Borrell said.

The European Union added 19 top Venezuelan officials to its sanctions list for their roles in undermining democracy and the rule of law in the South American country along with serious human rights violations, the European Council said in a Feb. 22 news release. The targeted individuals are military, political and judicial leaders, bringing to 55 the total number of sanctioned Venezuelan officials. The expanded sanctions come after announcements from the EC Jan. 7 and Jan. 25, threatening additional targeted measures against Venezuelan officials if President Nicolas Maduro did not begin a transition period to the democratically elected opposition (see 2101060010).

Following a review of its restrictive measures, the EU renewed its arms embargo against Zimbabwe and is maintaining its targeted assets freeze against one company, Zimbabwe Defence Industries. In a Feb. 19 news release, the European Council decried the humanitarian, economic and social situation in the sub-Saharan nation. “Violations of human rights and limitations on the democratic space are also persisting,” the release said. “The EU is especially concerned about a proliferation of arrests and prosecutions of journalists, opposition actors and individuals expressing dissenting views, and the use by high-level officials of speech that could be interpreted as incitement to violence.”

The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced the addition of three senior generals in the Myanmar military to its sanctions list following the military coup in the country. In a Feb. 18 release, Britain added Soe Htut, Than Hlaing and Mya Tun Oo to the list, barring any U.K. entities from dealing with these members of the military. The U.K. is just one of many countries to enact sanctions on Myanmar and high-ranking military officials following the coup, with the U.S. enacting similar sanctions on Feb. 10 (see 2102100060). “We, alongside our international allies, will hold the Myanmar military to account for their violations of human rights and pursue justice for the Myanmar people,” British Foreign Secretary Dominc Raab said in a statement.

Slovakia will introduce a range of value-added tax measures this summer that will affect cross-border e-commerce trade, KPMG posted Feb. 18. The changes, effective July 1, will alter certain European Union VAT directives, including provisions related to the “place of taxation” and the supply of goods through “electronic interfaces.” The measures will also revise procedures for declarations and payments of import VAT, and repeal an exemption from import VAT for goods “in small consignment of a value of up to” about $26.