The United Kingdom Dec. 2 published guidance for European Union companies importing from or exporting to the U.K. after Brexit. The U.K. also issued guidance on how tariffs and taxes will apply to EU businesses. The guidance has information on trading animal products, plant products, energy-related goods, manufactured goods, chemicals, controlled goods and other items. The U.K. stressed EU companies should review import procedures with their country’s customs authority before importing U.K. products next year, and said EU exporters will need to follow “new traffic management processes at ports to avoid delays.”
The European Parliament released a November report on extraterritorial sanctions and their “legality under general international law.” The report includes an overview of U.S. sanctions and their impacts on the EU and member states -- including U.S. designations on Iran, Cuba and the Nord Stream 2 project (see 2007150021) -- and how the EU can protect itself against those impacts. The report recommends that the EU help European companies find “recourse” through arbitration and national courts and to consider challenging the legality of some U.S. sanctions through the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement system. The EU should also consider countermeasures to U.S. sanctions, the EP said, but stopped short of asking the EU to follow through with those measures. “At this stage, the application of such measures could hardly be recommended,” the report said. “However, it might be helpful to clearly state that the EU is aware of this option and will consider it.”
The European Union's equivalent of secretary of state is calling for coordination with the U.S. on regulatory conformity, choosing a new director-general at the World Trade Organization and restoring the appellate body there, in a policy paper released Dec. 2. High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles said they need to intensify trilateral work between the EU, Japan and the U.S. on how to address market-distorting practices that WTO rules aren't effective in addressing. “We should also work together to bring forward the WTO e-commerce negotiations,” he said.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom said they remain committed to the Iran nuclear deal but said they are concerned by Iran’s “numerous, serious violations” of its nuclear commitments. In a Nov. 18 statement, the three countries said they are “extremely concerned by Iran’s actions, which are hollowing out the core nonproliferation benefits of the deal.” But they said they still plan to honor the deal and have taken “additional efforts to allow Iran to pursue legitimate trade,” including through the use of INSTEX (see 2002280029).
The European Council on Nov. 13 published the proposed regulations for its new export control regime covering dual-use technologies (see 2011100021). The regulations include procedures for information sharing between member states on export controls, licensing procedures, general definitions, enforcement methods and more.
The European Union is preparing another round of Belarus sanctions and considering more severe trade restrictions in response to the country’s unfair elections earlier this year, said Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief. Borrell said “many” member states have asked for more sanctions, adding that the EU may designate companies in addition to government officials (see 2010050010).
The United Kingdom's Department for International Trade issued a guidance Nov. 19 on how its retained blocking regulation will be applied after Brexit. The guidance includes information on U.K. enforcement, reporting and license applications related to the regulation, which aims to offset how U.K. companies and people are impacted by U.S. extraterritorial sanctions on Iran and Cuba.
The Netherlands Parliament urged the European Union to restrict weapons exports to Turkey and impose sanctions on people in Turkey and Azerbaijan responsible for violence in the ongoing Nagorno-Karabagh conflict, according to a Nov. 18 post on the EU Sanctions blog. The parliament specifically asked the EU for a moratorium on weapons exports that could be used in the conflict, to impose sanctions on people responsible for the violence and to designate senior officials in Azerbaijan, including President Ilham Aliyev, his family members and “other key figures in the Azerbaijani offensive.” Sanctions should also be imposed on Syrian fighters in the conflict deployed by Turkey, the post said.
The United Kingdom on Nov. 18 issued a guidance on its performance targets for the Export Control Joint Unit’s export licensing system. The ECJU said it aims to process 70% of standard individual export license applications within 20 working days and 99% within 60 working days. The guidance also outlines how the system aims to advise exporters, how exporters can appeal license decisions and the ECJU’s standards.
The European Commission on Nov. 16 updated its guidance for providing COVID-19-related humanitarian aid to sanctioned countries. The guidance now includes a chapter on Nicaragua and clarifies the “responsibilities and the processes” to help “facilitate activities of humanitarian operators” in that country, the commission said. “The present [Guidance] Note replaces Commission Notice C(2020) 3179 final, adopted on 11 May 2020 which was focused on Syria only. The part related to Syria remains the same,” it said. The notice addresses questions the EC received regarding “exports of, and payments for protective gear, medicines, medical equipment” and medical assistance “to the population in need” in areas subject to EU sanctions.