A former U.S. ambassador to the European Union and the German envoy to the U.S. said a united front on China's trade distortions could make it more painful for that country to continue its current industrial policies. “With the rise of China and the relative decline of Western power it should be in our shared interest to use each other as an asset to leverage our power,” said Emily Haber, Germany's ambassador.

The United Kingdom signed an economic and trade deal with Cote d’Ivoire to continue existing trade agreements after the end of the Brexit transition period, the U.K. said Oct. 15. The agreement will allow businesses “to trade as freely as they do now, without any additional barriers or tariffs,” the U.K. said, including “tariff free market access.”

The United Kingdom on Oct. 16 updated its list of imports from the European Union that will be controlled after the end of the Brexit transition period. The list now provides “more detail” about which goods will be controlled beginning next year, including information on controlled drugs, excise goods, drug precursor chemicals, toxic chemicals, fishery products, explosives, firearms, military goods and nuclear materials.

The United Kingdom issued Oct. 16 guidance on exporting dual-use goods to the European Union after Brexit and reminded exporters to register for an open general export license. U.K. exporters should check whether their items are on the dual-use control list, which includes goods relating to nuclear materials, electronics, telecommunications, navigation equipment, marine equipment, software and technology. An exporter whose goods are captured by that list needs to register for an OGEL, which will “enable multiple shipments of these controlled items to any EU member state,” the U.K. said. The license does not expire, but exporters may be “audited on its use” by U.K. compliance officers. Dual-use items that do not have the license may be stopped at customs, the U.K. said.

The United Kingdom on Oct. 13 released its quarterly report on export controls, covering license application decisions and other statistics. The U.K. said it made about 2,800 license decisions on standard individual export licenses from April 1 through June 30, down about 10% from the previous quarter. The U.K. issued more than 98% of the licenses and refused fewer than 2%. For open individual export licenses, the U.K. made decisions on about the same number of licenses as in the previous quarter, approving 68 licenses and rejecting seven.

The European Union renewed its sanctions regime against people and entities involved in developing and using chemical weapons, the European Council said in an Oct. 12 news release. The regime, which applies to nine people and one organization, was renewed for one year until Oct. 16, 2021.

The European Commission launched two online systems to help small and medium-sized companies trade with Iran. The European Union's Due Diligence Helpdesk and Sanctions Tool offer free support for companies doing “legitimate trade” with Iran, the commission said Oct. 6. The help desk will carry out due diligence checks to determine whether “specific business projects comply with EU sanctions,” the commission said, while the sanctions tool provides companies with “non-binding guidance on whether their business projects could fall under EU sanctions concerning Iran.” Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said the tools are meant to help “strengthen and facilitate legitimate trade between Iran and the EU.” The U.S. recently invoked snapback sanctions against Iran and criticized EU members for not supporting an arms embargo against the country (see 2009210022).

The European Union on Oct. 11 officially launched its foreign direct investment (FDI) screening mechanism for member states to coordinate on screenings to prevent suspicious transactions and acquisitions involving EU companies, the EU said Oct. 9. The mechanism establishes a “framework” for “formal contact points and secure channels” between member states and introduces procedures for member states and the European Commission to “quickly react to FDI concerns and to issue opinions.” The move comes as the U.S. pushes its allies, including the EU and Japan, to increase scrutiny of foreign investments from China (see 2002260042). The EU has encouraged member states to increase their investment screenings (see 2003260003) and recently implemented new criteria for screening investments, including transactions involving critical technologies and dual-use items (see 1903210049).

The United Kingdom on Oct. 8 updated its guidance on existing trade agreements with non-European Union countries to reflect the signing of a deal with Ukraine. The agreement will allow U.K. companies to continue trading with Ukraine under existing conditions after the U.K. leaves the EU Jan. 1, 2021, the country said in a news release. Trade Secretary Liz Truss said the deal will specifically benefit the U.K.’s aircraft, automotive and pharmaceutical industries, while the Scotch Whisky Association said Ukraine will continue to serve as a “growing market” for whisky exports.

Russia recently notified the World Trade Organization of draft revisions for the use of electronic veterinary certificates within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and foreign trade via G/SPS/N/RUS/196, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Oct. 6. The measure will allow traders to use veterinary certificates “issued in electronic form” for all “controlled goods” during import, export, transit and transfer within the EAEU. The public comment period in the draft will close Nov. 20, USDA said, but encouraged U.S. companies to share comments with the agency at us.spsenquirypoint@fas.usda.gov by Nov. 6.