The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation renewed a Russia-related license this week that authorizes certain payments involving sanctioned credit or financial institutions. The license, which was set to expire Nov. 6, was extended for two years through Nov. 7, 2027. OFSI also revised the definition of "designated credit or financial institution" and the license's reporting requirements.
The U.K. last week extended a general license that authorizes certain transactions related to humanitarian activities involving Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. The license was recently renewed through Nov. 14 (see 2410100030), and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation again renewed it, this time through Nov. 14, 2027. OFSI also amended certain reporting deadlines, revised the definition for “Relevant Person," changed the definition of “UK Funded Person” to include any person who has received U.K. government funding in the last five years, and more.
The EU this week published its fifth annual report on the implementation and enforcement of EU trade policy, outlining steps that the bloc has taken to remove trade barriers, the status of various trade agreements, trade trends from the past year, and more.
The EU believes China has suspended its recently announced rare earth export controls for all countries, not just the U.S., but the bloc is still gathering information, European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill told reporters in Brussels Nov. 3.
The U.K. this week launched a new landing page that collects sanctions enforcement information from across the country's various government agencies, including penalty notices, annual reviews, case studies and lessons for industry. The U.K. created the site after hearing from companies that "easily accessible and consolidated enforcement information helps industry learn from remedial action," the government said in a Nov. 3 email to industry.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued new FAQ 172 on Oct. 31 to address whether licenses are required for certain dealings related to Russia's sanctioned National Settlement Depository (NSD). The FAQ specifically addresses a situation in which funds are allocated to the U.K. entity by an "International Central Securities Depository," but Russia's NSD has seized International Central Securities Depository funds held at the NSD. The U.K. said an OFSI license wouldn't be required by a U.K. financial institution to deal with or receive those funds as long as:
An "upgraded" version of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area entered into force Oct. 28, the European Commission announced. The deal provided updates in three areas: trade flows, production standards and safeguards.
The U.K. lifted its arms embargo on Armenia and Azerbaijan effective Oct. 13, the country's Export Control Joint Unit said Oct. 29. The embargo "covered weapons, ammunition and munitions that might be used on the land border between Armenia and Azerbaijan by military, police, security forces and related government entities of either state." All export and trade license applications for Armenia and Azerbaijan will continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis against the U.K.'s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, the U.K. said.
A recently published EU Parliament briefing summarizes the EU's approach to dual-use export controls, the main export control issues facing its legislators, how experts view the EU's export laws and the role Parliament can play. The briefing noted that Parliament has until Nov. 8 to "raise any objections" to the EU's September update to its dual-use export control list, which included items that couldn't be agreed to at multilateral export control forums because Moscow was blocking their passage (see 2509090009).
The European Commission on Oct. 23 imposed antidumping duties on screws without heads from China. The duties range from 54.7% to 72.3% and follow from an investigation that found that Chinese headless screws were injuring the EU industry. In the EU, the industry for this product is located in Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland.