The U.K. corrected one entry under its Iran (Human Rights) sanctions regime, in a July 7 notice. The entry for Moslem Moein, head of the Basij Cyberspace Headquarters, was updated to change his birth year from 1885 to 1985.
A new set of overlooked EU import restrictions on iron and steel products with links to Russia could be a heavy compliance lift for certain importers, Baker McKenzie said in a July 6 client alert. The new restrictions, outlined in the EU’s most recent Russia sanctions package (see 2306230013), haven’t gotten the “attention they deserve,” the firm said, adding that they will force certain “economic operators” to prove the goods they’re importing “do not contain any Russia-originating sanctioned iron or steel item.”
The European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee on July 6 adopted a draft law to address violating and circumventing EU sanctions. The law would impose a set of common definitions of sanctions breaches and set minimum penalties across the bloc, the parliament said. Violations would include not freezing funds or not respecting travel bans along with doing business with state-owned entities of nations subject to sanctions.
The European Union recently approved three genetically engineered corn crops and renewed the authorization for three soybean crops and one cotton crop used for imported food and animal feed, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a July 5 report. The approvals, which will remain valid for 10 years, came after a “comprehensive and stringent authorization procedure, including a favorable scientific assessment by the European Food Safety Authority,” the agency said. The imports will still be subject to the EU’s “strict” labeling and traceability rules.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation dropped one name from its Russia sanctions regime in a July 6 notice, removing Lev Aronovich Khasis, former first deputy chairman of the executive board of PJSC Sberbank.
The EU on July 4 imposed antidumping duties on stainless steel refillable kegs from China for five years, the European Commission announced that day. The duties range from 62.6% to 69.6% and follow an investigation that found the kegs were being dumped into the bloc. "The measures will help to ensure that the EU keg industry, which employs 500 people, can compete on an equal footing with keg imports from China," the commission said.
The U.N. Security Council and the U.K. recently amended 16 North Korea-related entries on their sanctions lists. The entries include bankers, nuclear researchers and procurers, and military officials.
The EU's Directorate-General for Trade on July 4 expanded its Access2Procurement tool to cover the U.S., "making transatlantic procurement" easier for European businesses, the European Commission announced. The tool lets EU companies receive "user-friendly" data on public procurement tenders from various trading partners, the commission said, and "elucidates these countries’ commitments" under the World Trade Organization and trade deals. The platform also covers Canada and Japan, with more partners to be "added in the future," the commission said.
Several recent applications of Italy’s foreign direct investment regime “appear to be the bellwether” for how the new government plans to approach future FDI reviews, Cleary Gottlieb said in a June 30 client alert.
The European Commission on June 30 created two new tariff-rate quotas for steel goods released for free circulation in Northern Ireland from other parts of the U.K. The new TRQs, under the bloc's steel safeguard regulation and effective July 1, will allow Northern Ireland companies to use the EU's steel TRQs to access British-origin steel in the two categories without paying the 25% tariff, the commission said.