The United Kingdom's Export Control Joint Unit on Jan. 14 updated a series of open general export licenses, including exports for dual-use goods, military goods, chemicals, low-value shipments, information and security items, and more. The updates clarify who is eligible to use the licenses.

The Uni, Germany and France said they remain committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, again urged Iran to return to the deal and expressed concerned with U.S. sanctions. “We have made clear our regret and concern at the decision by the United States to withdraw from the JCPoA and to re-impose sanctions on Iran,” the countries said in a Jan. 12 joint statement. “Despite increasingly difficult circumstances, we have worked hard to preserve the agreement … it is essential that Iran return to full compliance with its commitments.”

The United Kingdom House of Commons voted 330-231 in favor of final passage of the U.K. Withdrawal Amendment bill on Jan. 9. The passage on the “third reading” means that the bill will now go to the House of Lords, then to the queen for royal assent before it becomes law, presuming the upper house makes no amendments that would return the bill to the House of Commons, the BBC said in a report. The bill provides that the U.K. will leave the European Union on Jan. 31, and sets an end-2020 deadline for negotiations over a permanent EU-U.K. arrangement.

The European Union has updated the correlation list between its TARIC database and the updated list of dual-use items published as an annex to a notice issued Dec. 31, the European Commission said on its website. The Dec. 31 changes mostly relate to recent amendments agreed to at the Wassenaar Arrangement, according to a Jan. 6 blog post from law firm Baker McKenzie.

The short, end-2020 deadline pushed by the United Kingdom government for negotiations on a permanent post-Brexit deal with the EU means the two sides won’t be able to strike a comprehensive deal, but will instead have to prioritize what makes it into the final agreement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in remarks Jan. 8 at the London School of Economics. The top priority should be areas where an international agreement does not exist to fall back on, she said. A “hard exit” in any area “would not be good for the U.K. or the EU,” von der Leyen said.

In the Jan. 8 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The United Kingdom's Department for International Trade updated its guidance for import controls with a Jan. 3 notice on the European Union’s prior surveillance import licensing arrangements. The notice removed two tariff codes and added five codes “covering imports into free circulation within the EU of aluminum and steel products,” the notice said. All “unused valid import” licenses for a removed tariff code need to be replaced with a new import license, the notice said.

The European Union is considering banning certain batteries that don’t meet environmental standards, potentially affecting battery manufacturers and exporters worldwide, according to a Dec. 31 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. European Commission officials recently said the EU is developing “green standards” for batteries, the report said, and suggested the EU could impose import restrictions on batteries that cause toxic waste, with imports from Southeast Asia particularly at risk.

The United Kingdom will soon update its list of dual-use items that are controlled for export, the Department for International Trade said in a Dec. 31 notice. The changes will reflect decisions recently made by “international export control regimes” and which will be adopted by the European Union, the notice said. The DIT said it will publish another notice when the regulations have been updated along with “associated changes to open general export licenses.” The European Commission recently published details of the upcoming changes agreed to at the Wassenaar Arrangement (see 1912120011), which include changes to export controls for discrete microwave transistors, certain software, lasers, diffusion bonding technology and more.

In the Dec. 30 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted: