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.

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 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.

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 Department for International Trade released a guidance on Oct. 28 on how its Trade Remedies Investigation Directorate conducts dumping, subsidization and safeguarding reviews. The guidance describes “the processes and methodology” behind the TRID’s “preliminary decisions,” the DIT said, and covers how the agency calculates injury margins and determines market cost adjustments, and how long the investigations usually take.

The United Kingdom's Department for International Trade updated its collection of overseas business guides for British exporters by adding links to new market guides, according to an Oct. 28 notice. The new links include market guides to Canada, Colombia, France, Israel, the Ivory Coast, Jordan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Slovenia and Vietnam.

The United Kingdom's Department for International Trade updated its guidance on trade sanctions, arms embargoes and other restrictions, the DIT said in an Oct. 28 notice. The guidance includes a list of countries with current sanctions, a summary of the U.K.’s key sanctions measures and what the sanctions prohibit.

The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation released a guidance on Russian sanctions after the U.K. leaves the European Union, expanding on details of the U.K.’s financial and investment sanctions. The guidance provides information on where trade and financial sanctions may overlap, as well as information on Russian asset freezes, blocked payments, loan and credit arrangements and sanctions exceptions. The guidance also provides a set of frequently asked questions.

In the Oct. 25 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted: