European Parliament members urged the EU last week to impose new sanctions on Tanzanian authorities for violence against protesters and on Iranian officials for the "systemic suppression and escalating persecution" of Iran’s Baha’i community.
The U.K. in September reached a 620,000 pound (about $820,000) settlement with a British exporter for illegal exports of military goods, the country’s Export Control Joint Unit said Dec. 1. The agency didn’t release more information. ECJU said it offers settlements in cases where the breach was inadvertent or “due to weaknesses in internal controls,” or where the exporter voluntarily disclosed the violation.
The European Parliament this week voted 402-250 -- with eight abstentions -- in favor of delaying the bloc's deforestation reporting requirements for one year, which would give large companies until Dec. 30, 2026, to come into compliance and small companies until June 30, 2027.
The U.K. on Nov. 26 opened a public comment period for its planned elimination of duty exemptions for low-value imports. The country for several months had been reviewing whether to remove the tariff exemption for imports costing under 135 pounds, and the finance ministry said it expects to eliminate the exemption by March 2029 "at the latest."
The European Anti-Fraud Office and Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, announced a new initiative this month to tackle Russia- and Belarus-related sanctions evasion, especially illegal exports of vehicles. The joint effort, called Project Transporter, aims to better support EU member states investigating potential sanctions breaches while bringing together expert investigators from the law enforcement community -- especially customs, police and financial crimes investigators -- to probe vehicle exports to Russia and Belarus.
The U.K. on Nov. 25 extended the antidumping duties on ceramic tableware and kitchenware from China for an additional five years, pushing them to July 16, 2029, at existing AD rates. Guangxi Sanhuan Enterprise Group Holding will be subject to a 13.1% rate; Hunan Hualin China Industry and its affiliates will be subject to an 18.3% rate; and all other overseas exporters will receive a 36.1% rate. Various other respondents are subject to a rate of either 17.6% or 17.9%, according to a list of those separate companies found on the U.K. Department for International Trade's website.
The EU and South Africa on Nov. 20 signed the Clean Trade and Investment Partnership, which builds on the EU-South Africa Strategic Partnership and the Economic Partnership Agreement, the European Commission announced. The partnership will center on "strategic sectors" such as renewable energy, electricity transmission, clean fuels, raw materials value chains, and climate mitigation and adaptation technologies. The agreement will mobilize public and private financing, address trade and investment barriers, ensure "transparent access to public procurement" and facilitate investments, the commission said.
The Swedish Police Authority suspects that "extensive" violations of Russia sanctions are being committed by companies indirectly exporting products from Sweden to Russia through third countries, the agency said in a notice last week.
EU foreign ministers last week stressed that the bloc should prioritize new designations of Russian shadow fleet ships and their operators in future Russia-related sanctions packages, according to an EU summary of a Nov. 20 Foreign Affairs Council meeting. "Ministers shared the opinion that going after Russia's shadow fleet should remain a priority for the EU and that work on imposing further restrictive measures on the shadow fleet should continue."
The European Commission on Nov. 20 announced that the EU launched the first trade and investment dialogue with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. The dialogue will cover five areas, the commission said: "trade diversification, digital trade, trade and investment facilitation, supply chain resilience, and the global trade environment, including World Trade Organisation reform."