The United Kingdom has been “far too slow” in imposing unilateral sanctions against human rights abusers and should appoint a senior official responsible for implementing sanctions policy, Britain's House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said in a Nov. 4 report. The report, which was the committee’s second of 2019, makes several sanctions-related recommendations to Britain's Foreign Commonwealth Office and is critical of the country’s approach to sanctions. The committee asked for updates to its suggestions by May 2020.

Britain's Department for International Trade updated its export control training bulletin for November through April, the DIT said Nov. 5. The bulletin provides details of courses, seminars and workshops from the country’s Export Control Joint Unit aimed at giving industry more guidance and training.

The United Kingdom's Department for International Trade released a Nov. 4 policy paper on the country’s approach to continuing trade with Georgia after Brexit. The paper provides an overview of the agreement and explains “significant differences” between the deal and the current agreement between the European Union and Georgia. The paper also includes information on tariff rates, customs procedures, rules of origin, technical barriers to trade and more.

In the Oct. 30-31 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The European Union published the 2020 edition of its Combined Nomenclature tariff schedule in the Nov. 1 Official Journal. Changes include the tariff reductions under the World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement, as well as amendments to tariff provisions to keep up with technological and commercial developments, the EU Commission said in its preamble to the new edition.

Italy recently introduced a series of new value-added tax measures, including some that increase penalties for violations, KPMG said in an Oct. 30 post. Among several changes, the measures increase penalties for criminal violations of VAT rules, including filing false VAT returns, failing to file a return, fraudulent reporting on invoices and “concealment or destruction” of documents, the post said. The increased penalties include longer prison sentences.

The State Department approved a potential $115 million military sale to Croatia, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in an Oct. 30 press release. The sale includes two UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, engines and navigation systems. The principal contractors are General Electric Aircraft Company of Lynn, Massachusetts, and Connecticut-based Sikorsky Aircraft Company.

The United Kingdom Department for International Trade released an Oct. 29 guidance on preparing British business to import from the European Union after Brexit. The guidance features a six-step process importers should follow, including details about import declarations, setting up a duty deferment account and checking duty rates.

The United Kingdom released an Oct. 29 policy paper on “arrangements for preferential trade” between the U.K. and Colombia, Ecuador and Peru after Brexit. The guidance sets out trading conditions that will apply until the U.K.-Andean countries trade agreement comes into effect.

The United Kingdom Department for International Trade released an Oct. 29 policy paper on a memorandum of understanding reached with the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago in case of a no-deal Brexit. The agreement would allow for “preferential trading conditions” until the parties ratified the CARIFORUM-UK economic partnership agreement.