European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for “reciprocity” and “proportionality” in the European Union's COVID-19 vaccine export regime, at a March 17 press conference. To incentivize greater openness in other countries' vaccine exports, von der Leyen placed a special emphasis on reciprocity, detailing how the EU is prioritizing exporting vaccines to countries that create their own vaccines. “We think this is an invitation to be open,” she said. “So that we also see exports from those countries coming back to the European Union.”

Disappointed with the pace of the United Kingdom government's response on forced labor issues in China's Xinjiang region, parliamentarians on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee issued a report on the situation, including policy recommendations on how to further crack down on modern slavery in Xinjiang. The BEIS Committee, responsible for oversight of the BEIS Department, issued sweeping recommendations for the government agency for its role in upholding human rights commitments in relation to business ties with China. The March 17 report declared that the BEIS Department “has shown little sign that it is taking a proactive or meaningful lead on investigating UK business links to forced labour and other human rights abuses in China or elsewhere.”

The United Kingdom launched an online registry for entities to report the steps they have taken to eradicate and prevent modern slavery from entering their supply chains, the Home Office announced in a March 11 release. The registry comes as part of a government commitment to strengthen the reporting requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Compliance with the registry is not yet mandatory, but the Home Office said that all “organizations are strongly encouraged to submit their most recently published statement on the registry to demonstrate that they have reported.” Under proposals to strengthen the Modern Slavery Act, reporting to the registry would become mandatory, the release said.

Germany announced the extension of general permits for exports in a March 17 notice, according to an unofficial translation. General Licenses No. 12 to No. 14 and General Licenses No. 16 to No. 28 are extended to March 31, 2022. General License No. 15 was already deemed valid until the same date. The update also detailed information on General License No. 28 -- Franco-German cooperation on export controls in the arms sector derived from the Franco-German Treaty of Aachen of 2019. The agreement gives privileges to de minimis arms exports. Also, in relation to arms exports from Germany to France, registration for the General Approval must be completed before use of the permit, a preliminary procedure must be made in certain cases and the General License user must request a “declaration of integration” from a French regulator. The general license provision entered into force April 1, 2020.

Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce audience that as the U.S. is looking for trusted partners to make sure its supply chains are resilient, it should look to Ireland. He noted that his country was the fifth-largest supplier of coronavirus-related goods.

The European Union notified the United Kingdom about its breaching of provisions of the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland in the withdrawal agreement signed following Britain's departure from the EU. The March 15 letter of formal notice said the U.K. has violated the terms of the Ireland and Northern Ireland provisions regarding the movement of goods and pet travel, the European Commission said in a March 16 news release. The EU gave the U.K. a month to respond to the notice. The EU is challenging the U.K.'s extension of the Brexit grace period on food imports to Northern Ireland. EC Vice President Maros Sefcovic sent a separate letter to David Frost, U.K. co-chair of the Joint Committee, calling on the U.K. to end the Brexit grace period and imploring “good faith” consultations with the Joint Committee.

Trade between the United Kingdom and the European Union dropped substantially in the first month following the U.K.'s exit from the EU. According to trade data from the U.K.'s Office for National Statistics, U.K. exports to the EU fell by more than 40% in the first month of 2021 and imports from the EU to the U.K. fell by nearly 29%. The largest drop in imports to the U.K. was in machinery and transport equipment, particularly in the import of cars and medicinal and pharmaceutical products. January's fall in trade is the largest single-month drop in goods imports and exports since tracking began in January 1997, according to the trade data.

The European Council extended sanctions on those “responsible for undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine” for another six months, until Sept. 15, the EC announced March 12. The sanctions include travel restrictions, an asset freeze and a ban on making funds available to listed persons and entities; they apply to 177 individuals and 48 entities.

With large purchase agreements yet to be filled, the European Union extended its vaccine export control regime until the end of June, the European Commission announced March 11. The controls apply only to companies with which the EU has negotiated an advance purchase agreement and require these companies to notify their member state authorities of their intention to export COVID-19 vaccines. To date, only one export of vaccines has been denied, with the EU blocking a shipment of more than 250,000 vaccine doses from British vaccine developer AstraZeneca to Australia (see 2103080006). The EC said it has granted 249 export requests to 31 different countries for a total of over 34 million doses since they did not threaten underlying APAs with the EU.

The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation published guidance on levying monetary penalties for financial sanctions breaches. The guidance explains HM Treasury's powers in the Policing and Crime Act 2017 that gave the agency the power to levy fines for sanctions violations, summarizes OFSI's compliance approach, provides an overview of the agency's assessment practices, details the process for deciding the level of penalty and explains how businesses or individuals can comply with the fines, including how to pay and appeal them. Penalties and guidelines come into effect April 1.