The U.K. issued a sanctions license permitting sanctioned people and entities to make certain payments to the U.K.'s Companies House, the agency that "registers company information and makes it available to the public, and incorporates and dissolves limited companies," the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. The payments are for fees owed by or due from sanctioned parties to this agency for filing a confirmation statement, and the payment of late filing penalty fees. The license took effect Oct. 6.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Oct. 6 removed Walid Hamid Tawfiq al-Tikriti from its Iraq sanctions regime. The move follows the U.N.'s decision last week to remove sanctions from al-Tikriti, an Iraqi national and governor of the Basrah province (see 2310060021).

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Oct. 10 extended a General License allowing U.K. parties to receive payments from a sanctioned party if the contract took effect before the party's designation. The license now runs through May 21. OFSI also altered the license to change the definition of "contractual obligation" to exclude contracts using certain types of financial instruments, expand the list of excluded contracts that involve financial instruments, and create another annex that lists other types of excluded contracts.

The European Council on Oct. 9 extended until Oct. 16, 2026, its sanctions regime addressing the proliferation and use of chemical weapons for another three years. The council also extended the "existing restrictive measures" against people and entities sanctioned under the regime for another year until Oct. 16, 2024. The restrictions currently apply to 25 people and three entities.

The European Parliament said the EU "must" adopt sanctions against Azerbaijani government officials who carried out human rights abuses in Nagorno-Karabakh. In a resolution adopted Oct. 5, the parliament said Azerbaijan's attack against the region on Sept. 19 amounts to "ethnic cleansing" and warrants sanctions.

Switzerland added guidance under its Russia sanctions regime pertaining to documents considered valid "proof of the country of origin" for iron and steel goods, according to an unofficial translation. The guidance updated Section 2.1.4, according to the EU Sanctions blog, and said factory test certificates are sufficient proof for COO along with invoices, delivery notes, quality certificates, long-term supplier declarations, production documents, the exporting country's customs forms, trade correspondence and exclusion clauses. Switzerland also laid out when this proof is needed, noting that the forms aren't required when importing steel products from the EU or the U.K. or reimporting goods that have already been in free circulation in Switzerland.

The EU this week issued 11 new frequently asked questions to provide importers more guidance on its trade restrictions for iron and steel products made with Russian inputs. The FAQs provide more guidance on conducting due diligence on iron and steel products processed in third countries with inputs from Russia, whether the restrictions apply to temporary imports, country of origin documentation requirements.

The European Commission this week issued a list of 10 critical technology areas that it plans to focus on as part of its economic security strategy, which outlined in June plans to improve export controls and study whether it needs better investment screening guardrails (see 2306200052). Of the 10 categories, the commission singled out four technology areas -- advanced semiconductor technologies, artificial intelligence technologies, quantum technologies and biotechnologies -- that are “highly likely to present the most sensitive and immediate risks related to technology security and technology leakage.”

The European Commission on Oct. 4 officially launched a countervailing duty investigation on electric vehicle batteries from China. The investigation, previewed in September by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (see 2309140009), will focus on whether the battery value chains in China benefit from "illegal subsidization," and, if so, whether these subsidies cause or threaten economic injury to EU manufacturers, the commission said. If both are true, the commission said, it will determine if it is in the bloc's interest to remedy the subsidies via duties. The commission said that, per World Trade Organization rules, it carried out pre-initiation consultations with the Chinese government. The commission said the investigation will take a maximum of 13 months, and anti-subsidy duties may be taken nine months after initiation.

Damen Shipyards Group, the Netherlands' largest shipbuilder, filed a lawsuit against the Dutch government for losses sustained due to the sanctions on Russia, a company spokesperson told us. Bloomberg first reported this week that the company filed suit at the Court of Rotterdam in May. The case is expected to proceed next year.