The European Council, Parliament and Commission struck a deal March 28 on an anti-coercion instrument that will look to shield the EU and its member states from economic coercion by third countries (see 2208160034 and 2211170015). The agreement outlines "principles to be adopted into legislation," which will be ironed out during a "final political trialogue" at "a later date," the commission said.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appointed Member of Parliament Gareth Johnson to be trade envoy to the United Arab Emirates. Sunak also reappointed David Mundell trade envoy to New Zealand, Heather Wheeler trade envoy to Cambodia and Laos, and Laurence Robertson trade envoy to Angola, Zambia and Ethiopia. Thirty-five trade envoys now cover 65 markets, the Department for International Trade said.
Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti approved sanctions on the Wagner Group to align with the U.S. designation of the mercenary group fighting in Ukraine (see 2301260023). Kosovo also updated its dual-use goods list to align with the European Commission's list.
The U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation this week added two people and one entity to its Myanmar sanctions list: Khin Phyu Win, director of Shoon Energy; Tun Min Latt, director of Star Sapphire Trading Co.; and Shoon Energy. The U.S. sanctioned Tun Min Latt and Star Sapphire last week (see 2303240024).
The EU and Timor-Leste inked a deal wrapping up bilateral market access talks on goods and services as part of Timor-Leste's bid to join the World Trade Organization, the EU Directorate-General for Trade said. The agreement sets lower tariffs for goods and opens up the services market. It will apply to all WTO members when Timor-Leste joins the global trade body. The Southeast Asian nation also is negotiating deals with Indonesia and the U.S. Nations seeking to join the WTO are required to sign bilateral deals with interested WTO members that include both agriculture and tariffs on non-agricultural products, and that also cover some service sectors.
Switzerland on June 1 will begin the first phase of a new “goods traffic system” to digitize certain customs procedures, KPMG said in a March 27 alert. The first phase will focus on modernizing “transit and export” procedures, KPMG said, and phase two will cover imports in 2025. The system, called Passar, will allow traders to electronically link their transport and other declarations and could “speed up the border process.”
Finland permitted a Russian fertilizer shipment to be shipped through EU territory and exported to a third country to "promote food security," the country said last week. Although EU sanctions don't prohibit imports or the transit of fertilisers from Russia, Finland said it seized the shipment earlier this month because the country suspected it of being owned by a sanctioned Russian person, and member states "must freeze the funds and economic resources owned or controlled by sanctioned individuals." The country's foreign ministry released the shipment after receiving a "request for authorization" from the purchaser. The authorisation was "granted under the condition that the fertilisers are exported to a third country to promote food security," Finland said.
The U.K.'s third round of negotiations on a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council, held March 12-16, made "[g]ood progress" and centered on technical discussions across 13 policy areas, the Department for International Trade said March 22. The fourth round of talks is expected to be held in the U.K. later this year.
The U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation removed a duplicate sanctions list entry for Sergey Borisovich Korolev, member of Rosatom's supervisory board, and amended the entry for Alexey Viktorovich Kuzmichev, member of Alfa Group Consortium's supervisory board.
The U.K. this week added people and entities designated under its Regulation 11 Russia sanctions to the list of parties designated under its Regulation 18C trust services restrictions. "This means that it is now prohibited to provide trust services to or for the benefit of these persons, unless permitted by a licence or there is an applicable exception," OFSI said. The change took effect March 21.