Private sector and government leaders from around the world talked about what their firms are doing and how the World Trade Organization could be a forum for creating smoother flowing supply chains.

To enforce the deluge of sanctions placed on Russia and Belarus following their invasion of Ukraine, the EU established the "Freeze and Seize" task force to work with other nations including the U.S., the U.K., Canada, France and Germany, the European Commission announced. The commission said the task force will work closely with the "Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs" task force set up under an identical premise. The task forces' first meetings took place March 11 and 18 and involved voices from the commission, points of contact from each EU member state, Europol, Eurojust and other European agencies. The task force will identify and seize assets of listed Belarusian and Russian oligarchs.

Russia is considering allowing retailers to import products without the permission of trademark holders, Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service said March 18. FAS said it met with Russia's biggest online retailer Wildberries and discussed the legalization of "grey imports." Reuters reported the draft resolution prepared by FAS is currently under consideration by the Russian government.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the Central Reserve Police of the Sudan for human rights abuses. The CRP has "used excessive force and violence intended to silence civilian activists and protesters,” Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said. The CRP is a militarized Sudanese police unit that OFAC says has been "at the forefront of the Sudanese security forces’ violent response to peaceful protests." OFAC designated the CRP under Eexecutive Order 13818 and the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act in 2017. As of March 21, all property of the CRP that is in the U.S. or that is in the possession or control of U.S. persons, is blocked and must be reported to OFAC.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week issued a new general license to authorize certain transactions related to “civil maritime services” with people or companies in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic or Luhansk People’s Republic regions of Ukraine. General License No. 24 only authorizes the transactions if the services are performed outside the covered regions and aren’t performed “on behalf of any entity located in, or organized under the laws of,” the covered regions.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended 21 entries under its Russia sanctions regime, still subjecting them to an asset freeze. OFSI also corrected three entries under the sanctions list and removed duplications for two individuals from the consolidated list. The corrected entries are Mikhail Fridman, Alfa Bank board director; Petr Aven, Alfa Group supervisory board chair; and German Khan, DEA Deutsche Erdoesl AG supervisory board member. The duplicate listings were dropped for Yury Vorobyov, Federation Council of the Russia member; and Maya Bolotova.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended numerous entries under its Zimbabwe, Belarus, Cyber and Chemical Weapons sanctions regimes. Under the Zimbabwe sanctions list, OFSI amended the entries for Owen Ncube, Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe and Zimbabwe Defence Industries.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated seven individuals and two entities as part of its efforts to combat drug trafficking in Central America. On March 18, OFAC designated the Los Huistas Drug Trafficking Organization and its leadership that threatens the people and security of the United States and Guatemala. OFAC said that Los Huistas DTO is the dominant criminal structure on the Guatemala/Mexico border.

The Congressional Research Service published a paper on the legal authority and organizational process behind the design and implementation of sanctions. The paper provides an overview of sanctions and export controls, and discusses the recent package targeting Russia and Belarus.

Australia issued another round of sanctions against Russia March 18, including designations targeting 11 more Russian banks and government entities. The entities include the Russian National Wealth Fund and the Russian Ministry of Finance. The country’s foreign ministry said its sanctions now cover a majority of Russia’s “banking assets,” including “all of the entities that handle Russia’s sovereign debt.”