Former Bureau of Industry and Security chief counsel Opher Shweiki, who left the agency earlier this month (see 2402140065), joined Akin Gump as a partner in its Washington office, the firm announced Feb. 20. Akin said Shweiki will add “further depth” to its export controls, sanctions, national security and global investigations team.
Japan extended its antidumping duties on electrolytic manganese dioxide from China until Feb. 25, 2029. The duties range from 34.3% to 46.5% based on the exporter, and a review showed that a lapse of the duties would likely lead to "recurrence of dumping and injury caused by dumped imports to the domestic industry," the Ministry of Finance announced Feb. 20.
The U.S. transferred nearly $500,000 in "forfeited Russian funds" to Estonia in an attempt to provide aid to Ukraine, DOJ announced on Feb. 17. The move, announced at the Munich Security Conference by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and Estonian Secretary General Tonis Saar, is "the first of its kind from the United States to a foreign ally for the express purpose of assisting Ukraine," DOJ said.
A draft text on World Trade Organization dispute settlement reform efforts was released Feb. 16, ahead of the 13th Ministerial Conference, which is set to be held Feb. 26-29. In all, the text includes 11 sections, covering issues including alternative dispute resolution procedures and arbitration, panel proceedings, compliance and transparency. Notably, the text doesn't include any discussion of the appeal or review mechanism, which is seen as the largest sticking point in reform talks.
The countries behind the Russian oil price cap on Feb. 16 released changes to the cap's attestation model in a bid to "strengthen the compliance regime and reduce routes for circumvention," the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. The changes require per-voyage attestations and itemized ancillary cost information on request.
Four World Trade Organization members -- Barbados, Dominica, Senegal and Uruguay -- formally accepted the agreement on fisheries subsidies Feb. 14, the WTO announced. Sixty member countries have now accepted the deal, which is 55% of the way to the two-thirds threshold of members needed for the agreement to enter into force at the WTO.
The European Council on Feb. 12 told central securities depositories that hold more than $1.07 million in assets from the Central Bank of Russia that they "must account [for] extraordinary cash balances accumulating due to EU restrictive measures separately." The depositories also must keep the related revenues separate, the council said, adding that the depositories are barred from "disposing of the ensuing net profits."
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation in 2024 is transitioning to a new "Sanctions Digital Guidance" format instead of its usual PDF guidance, the agency announced in a Feb. 13 blog post. The switch will allow for greater navigation, responsiveness, accessibility and compatibility, making the guidance available on any device, OFSI said. The transition will happen "throughout 2024," and during this time, interested parties will find sanctions guidance as a mix of digital and legacy PDFs. The agency kicked off the transition by making its general guidance available through the digital platform.
Bridget McGovern, former assistant secretary for trade and economic security at DHS, joined Squire Patton as a partner in the public policy practice, the firm announced. McGovern will focus on national security and trade issues, including reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. She worked for over two years at DHS, where she served as an agency representative to CFIUS and helped implement the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List.
World Trade Organization Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard said that priorities for the 13th Ministerial Conference, which takes place Feb. 26-29 in Abu Dhabi, are negotiating the second wave of the fisheries subsidies agreement, extending the e-commerce moratorium and continuing conversations on WTO reform.