The European Parliament this week voted to approve new rules that could require member states to treat sanctions violations as criminal offenses, leading to harsher penalties and possible prison time (see 2312120059).

The European Council on March 12 extended for another six months, until Sept. 15, sanctions on those undermining the sovereignty of Ukraine. The restrictions include an asset freeze on over 2,100 people and entities. The council also decided not to renew the restrictions on three individuals and dropped nine deceased individuals from the list.

Members of the European Parliament this week disagreed on the best path forward for new EU-wide supply chain due diligence rules, although an official with the Belgian presidency said it believes the EU can reach a compromise before the end of the current parliament’s term in April.

The U.K. on March 12 excluded mats made of glass fiber filaments from the countervailing duty order on continuous filament glass fiber products from Egypt. The Department for International Trade made the change following a Trade Remedies Authority recommendation to exclude the goods. CVD will still cover chopped glass fiber strands 50 mm or less in length and glass fiber rovings, excluding glass fiber rovings that are "impregnated and coated and have a loss on ignition of more than 3%."

The U.K. on March 8 announced it has extended the deadline for providing additional attestations or itemized ancillary costs under its Russian oil services ban from 28 to 30 days. The change was included as part of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation's guidance on the maritime services ban and oil price cap. Under this guidance, OFSI said its attestation process requires different players in the oil supply chain to provide different levels of evidence that the oil they are trading is below the price cap.

The U.K. on March 11 amended the entry for the North Korean Ministry of National Defense under the North Korea sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. OFSI noted that the ministry's name changed from the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces to the Ministry of National Defense.

Switzerland sanctioned six people and one entity on March 4 for their role in threatening the sovereignty of Moldova, following an EU action listing the same parties. The listed entity is Scutul Poporului, the paramilitary group accused of destabilizing Moldova through violent protests. The individuals are Russian intelligence officers, leaders of Scutul Poporului, Moldovan media executives and political figures.

The German Federal Prosecutor's Office filed charges last month against a German national and a Russian national for illicitly exporting drone parts to Russia, the office announced March 5, according to an unofficial translation.

The European General Court in a pair of decisions on March 6 rejected challenges to the EU's restrictions on wood and iron and steel products from Belarus. The court, in virtually identical opinions, rejected a trio of claims from Belarusian wood company AAT Mostovdrev and iron and steel company AAT Byelorussian Steel Works challenging the European Council's reasons for imposing the restrictions and infringement of the right to "effective judicial protection," alleged failure to observe the "principle of equal treatment," and imposition of measures disproportionately affecting the wood and iron and steel industries.

If the EU can’t agree to new corporate supply chain due diligence rules, European companies will instead face a growing, complex patchwork of national due diligence laws that will strain their compliance departments, leaders of two Dutch nonprofits said in an opinion piece this week for the Business and Human Rights Resource Center.