The European Union Foreign Affairs Council recommended placing restrictive measures on the individuals responsible for the arrest and persecution of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, European Commission High Representative Josep Borrell announced in a Feb. 22 press briefing. The sanctions, which include an asset freeze and travel ban, would mark the first use of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime that became law in December (see 2012070010). The decision to impose these sanctions will now be subject to an administrative review by the European Council where they will likely be ultimately decided and imposed within a week, Borrell said.
The European Union added 19 top Venezuelan officials to its sanctions list for their roles in undermining democracy and the rule of law in the South American country along with serious human rights violations, the European Council said in a Feb. 22 news release. The targeted individuals are military, political and judicial leaders, bringing to 55 the total number of sanctioned Venezuelan officials. The expanded sanctions come after announcements from the EC Jan. 7 and Jan. 25, threatening additional targeted measures against Venezuelan officials if President Nicolas Maduro did not begin a transition period to the democratically elected opposition (see 2101060010).
Following a review of its restrictive measures, the EU renewed its arms embargo against Zimbabwe and is maintaining its targeted assets freeze against one company, Zimbabwe Defence Industries. In a Feb. 19 news release, the European Council decried the humanitarian, economic and social situation in the sub-Saharan nation. “Violations of human rights and limitations on the democratic space are also persisting,” the release said. “The EU is especially concerned about a proliferation of arrests and prosecutions of journalists, opposition actors and individuals expressing dissenting views, and the use by high-level officials of speech that could be interpreted as incitement to violence.”
Following Canada's imposition of restrictions on trade with China's Xinjiang region, stemming from the use of forced labor and other human rights violations, industry is expressing anxiety over its ability to come into full compliance with the new regulations, a lawyer said. Cliff Sosnow, partner at Fasken, told Export Compliance Daily that Canada's new regulations are meant to make it harder on importers to import goods with links to Xinjiang and to ramp up the pressure on companies to show due diligence in regard to the sanctity of their supply chains.
India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade proposed issuing Certificate of Origins (Non-Preferential) through its online Common Digital Platform, effective April 1. Issued in a Feb. 19 trade notice, importers and exporters will be able to file for a CoO (NP) online or in manual mode, but applications will be accepted only in online mode. A uniform fee of 100 rupees will be charged with each CoO certificate issued.
A judge with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas declined to allow the state of Texas to voluntarily drop a civil forfeiture lawsuit over goods seized by a local law enforcement group that aims to stop illegal exports. The state will continue litigation in a similar case in front of the same court. The federal government isn't a party in either case.
International law firm Akin Gump has partnered with Palantir Technologies to create RegSpot, a digital services platform intended to help Akin Gump's clients address their legal needs and compliance issues, a Feb. 18 news release said. The platform's first module is designed to help with due diligence concerns involving U.S. export restrictions on transactions involving military end-use or end-users (MEU) in designated countries. Dubbed the “MEU Tool, powered by Palantir,” the module is intended to streamline the due diligence process of collecting and reviewing the relevant information while incorporating Akin Gump's assessment capabilities to respond to the legal risks posed by certain transactions, the release said. “With the increasing complexities of U.S. export controls, companies face the daunting task of conducting sufficient due diligence to identify and respond to red flags,” Tom McCarthy, Akin Gump’s head of international trade practice, said. “The MEU Tool helps provide an auditable process that promotes consistency, reduces human errors, and serves as a recordkeeping tool to demonstrate a company’s compliance efforts. This function is critical as companies face increasing scrutiny from regulators in an ever-changing legal landscape.”
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced the addition of three senior generals in the Myanmar military to its sanctions list following the military coup in the country. In a Feb. 18 release, Britain added Soe Htut, Than Hlaing and Mya Tun Oo to the list, barring any U.K. entities from dealing with these members of the military. The U.K. is just one of many countries to enact sanctions on Myanmar and high-ranking military officials following the coup, with the U.S. enacting similar sanctions on Feb. 10 (see 2102100060). “We, alongside our international allies, will hold the Myanmar military to account for their violations of human rights and pursue justice for the Myanmar people,” British Foreign Secretary Dominc Raab said in a statement.
Dubai Customs issued a notice exempting a new list of goods in the free trade agreement between the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf countries and the European Free Trade Association states. EFTA comprises EU member states Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Pursuant to the FTA, the list of goods falling under “Category B” were subject to duties for the first five years of the agreement but made exempt on the first day of the sixth year, July 1, 2021. The list of goods includes food items (pasta, macaroni, and French fries), cereal products, bakery products, coffee and tea products, sauces including ketchup, soy sauce and mayonnaise, food supplements, mineral water and beverages, bamboo, softening agents and glue.
The European Commission opened an antidumping investigation of certain graphite electrode systems originating in China. The investigation is based on a complaint from Graphite Cova, Showa Denko Carbon Holding and Tokai ErftCarbon on graphite electrodes of a kind used for electric furnaces, with an apparent density of 1.5 g/cm3 or more and an electrical resistance of 7 micro ohm meters or less, and nipples used for such electrodes. Complainants “provided sufficient evidence that there are raw material distortions in the country concerned regarding the product under investigation,” and that compared with prices in other international markets, are significantly lower, the EC notice said. “[T]he investigation will examine the alleged distortions to assess whether, if relevant, a duty lower than the margin of dumping would be sufficient to remove injury.”