The European Council on Jan. 3 added Russian-owned diamond mining firm PJSC Alrosa and its CEO Pavel Alekseevich Marinychev to the Russia sanctions list, the council announced. The company is responsible for over 90% of all Russian diamond production, the council said, adding that the designations "complement" the import ban on Russian diamonds adopted Dec. 18 (see 2312180070).

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Jan. 2 amended a Russia-related general license to reflect the name change of VTB Bank (Europe) SE to OWH SE. The license, issued in March 2022, authorizes certain transactions involving Russia-based VTB Capital and its subsidiaries (see 2203020019).

British cheese makers looking to export to their products to Canada now must check that their Canadian importer has access to an import license for "non-EU sources," the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said. As of Jan. 1, the U.K. moved from Canada's tariff-rate quota for EU member states to non-EU sources as part of a 2021 trade continuity agreement between the two nations. As a result, U.K. cheese exporters that don't have an importer with a license for non-EU sources will be subject to the full tariffs on cheese.

U.K. exports of chocolate, gin, whiskey, sparkling wine and other “festive treats” increased “significantly” last year after the country’s signing in July of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (see 2307170023), the Department for Business and Trade said Dec. 28. The agency said those goods are being “ordered en masse” by CPTPP countries, especially Singapore, Japan, Mexico and Malaysia. Exports of Scotch whiskey to Singapore have risen by 31% and to Malaysia by 43%, the U.K. said, while sparkling wine exports to Japan have increased by 140%

The U.K. on Dec. 28 updated its Haiti sanctions guidance to reflect the October renewal by the U.N. Security Council of an arms embargo against the country (see 2310240072). The U.K. said under certain cases it may grant certain export licenses for weapons shipments to Haiti, or licenses for a U.N. or U.N.-authorized mission to the country that is intended to “further the objectives of peace and stability in Haiti.”

Switzerland brought its Russia sanctions regime in line with the EU's by adopting the bloc's 12th sanctions package following Russia's invasion of Ukraine (see 2312180070), Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs announced. The sanctions package adds 61 people and 86 entities to the list and implements a phased ban on Russian diamonds, though the secretariat noted that there are no longer any direct diamond imports from Russia to Switzerland since the invasion.

The EU General Court on Dec. 20 granted Russian business executive Sergei Mndoiants' request to annul his placement on the Russia sanctions list. The court also rejected similar requests from oligarchs Roman Abramovich and Vadim Nikolaevich Moshkovich.

The EU's new anti-coercion instrument entered into force Dec. 27, the European Commission announced. The tool allows the bloc to impose tariffs and place other trade restrictions in response to economic coercion (see 2310230012). The commission said it will take stakeholders' views into account when imposing retaliatory action, adding that any actions taken under the tool "are consistent with the EU's international obligations and fully grounded in international law."

The U.K. is studying risks from imported oysters in the “hopes of mitigating” possible public health risks, including norovirus outbreaks, Keller and Heckman said in a December client alert. The country’s Office for Sanitary and Phytosanitary Trade Assurance commissioned the Foods Standards Agency to look into the matter, the firm said, adding the U.K. has identified “chemical and microbiological hazards” from imported oysters, including heavy metals, natural biotoxins, viral and bacterial pathogens and “persistent organic chemicals.” The firm said the U.K. imports about 350,000 kg of oysters annually, mostly from South Korea, France and New Zealand.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Dec. 21 amended the sanctions listing for Yuri Soloviev, former chairman of the management board of VTB Bank. The entry was updated to reflect that his connection to the bank is through former positions held there.