The United Kingdom faces potentially permanent shortages of food and drink items due to a 500,000-worker shortage, Ian Wright, head of the Food and Drink Federation, said, Bloomberg reported Sept. 10. Due to a lack of truck drivers, slaughtermen and engineers, supply chains have been completely upended in the British food industry, Wright said. This is due, in part, to European Union nations returning to the trade bloc after Brexit, Wright said at a webinar hosted by the Institute for Government think tank. “It’s going to get worse, and it’s not going to get better after getting worse any time soon,” he said. The prime minister's office rejected the claims, Bloomberg said.
The United Kingdom published a list of reference documents for importers and exporters to view all of the U.K.'s preferential tariffs and Rule of Origin for the agreements within The Customs Tariff (preferential trade arrangements and tariff quotas). It's a list of the agreements maintained after Brexit. The list contains 73 documents, two for each party to an agreement, plus three for the Eastern and Southern African States.
The European Commission released a fact sheet Sept. 9 titled, “Emerging Technologies Developments in the Context of Dual-Use Export Controls.” The publication is a compilation of fact sheets that cover topics addressed in the five workshops for member states held 2019-20 on emerging technologies, such as quantum computing, additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence, brain-computer interfaces, special materials, advanced semiconductors and hypersonics. After the workshops, each relevant emerging technology had a fact sheet developed for it.
European sanctions “targeting those responsible for undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine” will be extended another six months, until March 15, 2022, the European Council said Sept. 10. Existing restrictions include travel bans, asset freezes and a ban on making funds available to listed individuals and entities; they apply to 177 individuals and 48 entities. Measures were first imposed in March 2014.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation removed 28 entries from its consolidated Iraq sanctions list in a Sept. 9 notice, no longer subjecting them to an asset freeze. All 28 listings are Iraqi state-run entities. The entries are:
A new European Union export control framework centered around tightening limits on trade in dual-use items and enhancing the bloc's ability to protect human rights and support secure strategic item supply chains took effect Sept. 9, the EU said. The regulation increases the level of consultations and reporting between EU member states and the European Commission, which will in turn aid the development of an EU electronic licensing system that has already been piloted in four member states, the EC said.
Turkey, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Ukraine have aligned themselves with the European Union's sanctions regime on Guinea-Bissau, the European Council said in a Sept. 8 news release. On Aug. 5, the EC dropped two individuals, Navy Cmdr. Bion Na Tchongo and Capt. Paulo Sunsai, from the sanctions regime. Both listings originally were made in 2012 (see 2108100012). The aligning countries will "ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision," the EC said.
Grace periods imposed by the United Kingdom for trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland were extended while negotiations continue over one of Brexit's most fraught issues, according to a Sept. 6 statement from Brexit minister and British member of Parliament David Frost. Chilled meats and fresh sausages were in line to face a ban from entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. at the end of September, while other food products faced additional customs inspections. "The Government will continue to operate the [Northern Ireland] Protocol on the current basis," Frost said. "This includes the grace periods and easements currently in force."
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation removed Khalifa Muhammad Turki Al-Subaiy from its ISIL and al-Qaida sanctions listings in a Sept. 7 notice. Al-Subaiy is a "Qatar-based terrorist financier and facilitator," who's provided support to senior al-Qaida leadership. He was released from prison in Qatar.
The European Commission allowed Hubei Fomdas Foods Co. to receive the individual antidumping rate given to Toyoshima Share Yidu Foods Co. after the commission found that Hubei properly changed its name from Toyoshima. Per an implementing regulation, the EC said that Hubei properly registered its name change and the change did not result in any new relationship with other companies not investigated by the commission. Hubei is subject to the antidumping duty order on certain prepared or preserved citrus fruits (namely mandarins) from China.