The EU last week released the draft agenda for its annual export control forum. The forum, scheduled for Dec. 6, will feature speakers from the Bureau of Industry and Security and panels on emerging technologies, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, multilateral restrictions and more.
The U.K.'s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on Nov. 21 released guidance on the U.K.'s ban on Russian oil and oil products meant for entry into Britain. The guidance explains how to find the origin of oil imports to the U.K. Other sections of the guidance break down the context for the U.K. sanctions on Russian oil, details of the ban and how the ban on Russian oil and oil products will be enforced.
The top trade official in the EU, Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, said that it's important that the upcoming U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council meeting deliver "concrete and tangible results." He said Nov. 21 in Brussels: "I am hopeful that we will deliver some attractive results to facilitate trade. I am thinking notably of conformity assessment in specific sectors, and how to make better use of digital tools to ease trans-Atlantic trade.
The European Council on Nov. 19 called on all U.N. members to fully implement sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council in response to North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile that landed in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone last week. The council said North Korea is trying to "develop ever more menacing means to deliver weapons of mass destruction," threatening "all countries." In response, the council urged North Korea to comply with its obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions and ditch all its nuclear weapons. "The EU recalls the duty for all UN Members to take action to fully implement sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council," the council said.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ruled out the possibility of a Switzerland-style Brexit deal with the EU, declaring that he would block any move that would require an alignment with the EU's laws, The Guardian reported. After the Sunday Times reported the U.K. was considering a Swiss-type arrangement, Sunak told reporters that the U.K. "will not pursue any relationship with Europe that relies on alignment with EU laws."
Ton miles, a key industry measure representing the volume of cargo transported by oil tankers multiplied by the distance it travels by sea, are expected to jump by 4.3% this year, resulting in a surge in revenue for supertankers due to sanctions stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg reported. According to data from Clarkson Research Services, daily earnings for the industry's largest supertankers rose to $99,628 on Nov. 18, a mark which is four times the average of the past four years. All of this shows the disruption in the crude oil trading market, Bloomberg said. The disruption stems from Europe's move to ban purchases of Russian oil, which takes effect in December. As a result, cargoes flow instead from Asia, resulting in ships travelling thousands of more miles and driving a key aspect of demand, Bloomberg said.
The U.K. and Switzerland signed a mutual recognition agreement to drop nontariff barriers concerning conformity assessment in five sectors, the Department for International Trade announced Nov. 17. The covered sectors are electrical equipment and electromagnetic compatibility, measuring instruments, radio equipment, transportable pressure equipment and noise-emitting equipment for use outdoors. The agreement lets these goods be tested in the U.K. against Swiss regulations, then be sold in Switzerland without additional testing and vice versa. Pending parliamentary approval, the MRA will be applied provisionally beginning Jan. 1.
The U.K.'s Department for International Trade on Nov. 17 released an explanatory memorandum over a proposed EU regulation reshaping the bloc's rules on the import, export and transit of firearms. The proposal before the European Parliament and the European Council was tabled Oct. 27 but "addresses challenges related to the tracing and illicit trafficking of civilian firearms by setting common definitions, rules and principles for export, import and transit procedures." The regulation is now being "recast" due to greater levels of firearms trafficking in the EU from post-conflict nations. The new regulation's main goals are to reduce the circumvention of embargoes, drop the diversion of civilian firearms, further coordinate controls between EU member states to boost firearm traceability, and give a clearer and harmonized legal and administrative framework for the import, export and transit of firearms.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Nov. 17 issued a new general license that authorizes certain payments to energy companies for gas or electricity. The payments can be made to Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OFGEM)-registered energy companies from a frozen U.K. bank account via transfer or direct debit. The OFGEM-registered companies can receive the payments and make return payments to frozen bank accounts, the license said. Designated parties can also receive return payments from energy companies into a frozen U.K. bank account. The license permits this activity through April 16, 2023.
The U.K. reappointed Richard Graham to the role of trade envoy to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Department for International Trade said. The Nov. 14 announcement was made before British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak traveled to Indonesia for the G-20 summit. Graham will continue promoting U.K. trade in the region "and encourage inward investment across the UK," the DIT said.