The European Union added environmental and good governance conditions to its Generalized Scheme of Preferences reform proposal as factors that could lead to the suspension of the GSP for low-income countries, the European Commission said. The change is one of many in the proposal.

The United Kingdom's sanctions on the Democratic Republic of the Congo will enter into force on Oct. 7 under its 2021 regulations, with amendments to align with and enable implementation of a United Nations resolution adopted June 29 that extends the financial and travel sanctions outlined in the original 2008 resolution to apply to individuals and entities designated for "planning, directing, sponsoring or participating in attacks against medical personnel or humanitarian personnel."

The European Union launched a new platform, Access2Procurement, to provide updates about public tender opportunities outside the EU that are open to European companies, the European Commission said Sept. 21. Currently in its pilot phase, the platform expands the Access2Markets system and seeks to aid European small and medium-sized companies. Part one of the new platform lays out procurement opportunities from Canada for EU companies, based on Canada's World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement commitments and the bilateral EU-Canada Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement, the commission said.

The European Commission commenced, on its own initiative, a partial interim review of the countervailing duties on imports of rainbow trout from Turkey, it said Sept. 20. The commission is reviewing product described as “rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) live weighing 1, 2 kg or less each; or fresh, chilled, frozen and/or smoked: in the form of whole fish (with heads on), whether or not gilled, whether or not gutted, weighing 1,2 kg or less each; or with heads off, whether or not gilled, whether or not gutted, weighing 1 kg or less each; or in the form of fillets weighing 400 g or less each originating in the Republic of Turkey.” The commission said it is conducting the review because “there is sufficient evidence” that the circumstances with regard to subsidization “on the basis of which the existing measures were imposed have changed and that these changes are of a lasting nature.” The Turkish government enacted these changes in 2016, specifically making "significant changes on the structure and the terms of implementation of the subsidies granted by the Turkish Government to producers of rainbow trout." Those changes "led to a decrease of direct subsidies received by Turkish rainbow trout producers," the notice said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's recent announcement that the EC intends to propose a ban on products made using forced labor indicates a further step toward forced labor prevention, international law firm Mayer Brown said. In her Sept. 15 annual State of the Union speech, von der Leyen said that “doing business around the world ... can never be done at the expense of people’s dignity and freedom” and that the EU “can never accept that [25 million globally] are forced to make products -- and that these products then end up for sale in shops here in Europe.”

The European Union General Court dismissed the applications of 10 Democratic Republic of the Congo nationals to drop their 2019 sanctions relistings, in 10 opinions Sept. 15. The European Council's reasoning for the relistings was sufficient to allow the DRC nationals to challenge the validity of the acts, the court held. The EC also guaranteed their right to be heard by taking the applicants' observations and providing specific explanations, the court said. Even if the applicants were no longer DRC officials, the court said that the EC established enough of a link between the human rights situation in the DRC and the applicants.The orders concerned the applications of Jean-Claude Kazembe Musonda, Alex Kande Mupompa, Ferdinand Ilunga Luyoyo, Kalev Mutondo, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, Eric Ruhorimbere, Gabriel Amisi Kumba, Evariste Boshab, John Numbi and Celestin Kanyama.

An antidumping duty on stainless steel cold-rolled flat products from China and Taiwan will be imposed, following an expiry review of the original duty order, the European Commission said in a Sept. 15 implementing regulation. The European Steel Association requested the review in May 2020, representing more than 25% of the total EU production of the subject merchandise. The dumping order specifically covers “flat-rolled products of stainless steel, not further worked than cold-rolled (cold-reduced).”

The European Union's General Court annulled the 2019 and 2020 relisting acts for Libya's former minister for agriculture, animal and maritime resources, Abdel Majid Al-Gaoud, in a Sept. 15 order. The judgment removes Al-Gaoud from the EU's Libya sanctions regime. The former minister died in March 2021 and was delisted by the EU the following month. The court said that the European Council should have taken Al-Gaoud's circumstances into consideration when deciding whether to relist him in that he stopped being minister with the fall of Moammar Gadhafi's regime and was held in prison 2011 to 2017. The court also reasoned that Al-Gaoud's position as a former minister did “not have a sufficiently solid factual basis” that justified keeping him on the sanctions list. Had the council simply relied on his position as a former minister, his status would have been “frozen” and the council's periodic review provided for in listing measures would have had no practical effect, the court said.

The European Commission in two Sept. 16 notices announced the impending expiration of antidumping duty measures on certain hot-rolled flat products of iron, non-alloy or other alloy steel from China and on certain concrete reinforcement bars and rods from Belarus, unless a review of the duties is initiated. European Union manufacturers can submit a written request for a review up to three months before the measures' June 10, 2022, expiration date for the China AD duties and June 18, 2022, expiration date for the Belarus AD duties.

The European Commission extended the antidumping duty order on imports of certain aluminum foil and foil in rolls originating from China to cover imports from Thailand, in two Sept. 15 implementing regulations, intending to address circumvention of the AD duties. The decision to extend the antidumping duties was made following an investigation into a spike in aluminum foil imports to the European Union from Thailand. Chinese companies evaded the up-to-35% antidumping duty by first shipping the goods to Thailand then sending them to the EU, the commission said in a press release.