The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority is reviewing a proposed acquisition of the U.K.-based defense firm Ultra Electronics Holdings by Cobham Ultra Acquisitions, which is owned by U.S.-based Cobham Group Holdings, an aerospace and defense technology firm. The review, announced in August, could have national security implications for the U.K., the CMA said. The agency has until Jan. 18, 2022, to investigate the transaction and submit a report on the deal about its findings.

Ten countries aligned themselves with the European Union's decision to sanction eight individuals under the bloc's Nicaragua sanctions regime, the European Council said. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia will now also place the restrictive measures on the eight individuals listed for undermining the rule of law in the country (see 2108020027).

The European Union's use of trade defense measures in 2020, including antidumping and countervailing duties, succeeded despite COVID-19-related challenges, the European Commission said in a post highlighting its actions against unfair trade practices of the past year. The EU noted its temporary changes to regular practices, such as on-site verification visits. The commission also released statistics regarding its trade remedies. In all, the EU had 150 trade defense measures at the end of 2020, 10 more than in 2019, that included 128 antidumping measures, 19 antisubsidy duties and three safeguard measures. Ninety-nine of the 150 were imposed on China, nine on Russia, seven on India and six on the U.S. The commission also highlighted its new countervailing duties on cross-border financial support given by China to Chinese-owned companies making glass fiber fabrics and continuous filament glass fiber made in Egypt for export to the EU.

German inflation in imported goods has seen record highs since the 1980s, according to data from Germany's Federal Statistics Office, Bloomberg reported. Facing a worsening supply shortage, businesses are having difficulties securing inputs, driving the inflation surge in goods arriving from abroad, Bloomberg said Aug. 27. German imports were 15% more expensive than in 2020. Basic goods costs surged around 19% and energy prices 90%, the report said. Much of the hike derives from port closures and other COVID-19-related shipping disruptions.

Switzerland's Federal Department of Economic Affairs delisted three people from its sanctions regime in two sanctions modification notices. Sayed Shamsuddin Borborudi of Iran, Bion Na Tchongo of Guinea-Bissau and Paulo Sunsai of Guinea-Bissau were removed in the two separate actions. All three were also delisted by the European Union in the past two months (see 2108100012 and 2107300046).

Ukraine implemented sanctions against 13 individuals and 22 entities in a new wave of restrictive measures, made via four decrees from President Volodymyr Zelensky. Among those sanctioned are judges in occupied territory who illegally try Ukrainian citizens, members of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, and mass media registered in occupied Crimea and in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Lugansk, Zelensky announced, according to an unofficial translation. Several of those sanctioned also have been designated by the U.S. They include Andriy Derkach, a Ukrainian member of parliament, and Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk People's Republic.

A United Kingdom trade deal with New Zealand could eliminate tariffs of up to 10% on various British goods and increase a trade relationship already worth over $3.1 billion, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said Aug. 21. The trade agreement could drop tariffs on British chocolate, gin, buses and clothes, the department said. The latest round of trade talks between the two sides ended last month.

The United Kingdom appointed 10 trade envoys to boost British business in markets such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said Aug. 23. The new positions were created to "help UK businesses find new export and investment opportunities and promote UK trade in their allocated market," and include seven members of Parliament, the release said. The U.K. already has trade envoys in more than 60 countries. The new envoys are Lord Ian Botham to Australia; Baroness Kate Hoey to Ghana; and MPs Stephen Timms to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, David Mundell to New Zealand, Mark Eastwood to Pakistan, Marco Longhi to Brazil, Conor Burns to Canada, John Woodcock to Tanzania, Felicity Buchan to Iceland and Norway, and Jeffrey Donaldson to Cameroon, bolstering his current role as trade envoy to Egypt.

Several European packaging industry groups recently called on the European Commission to create an EU-wide approach to “packaging waste‑sorting” labeling, which would help improve the free movement of goods, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Aug. 18. In a recent letter, the groups express concerns about the EU’s “trend of divergent national packaging labeling and information requirements,” which runs counter to European efforts to harmonize waste collection and sorting regulations, and has caused “Single Market disruptions.” EU industry said the commission should take “decisive action” to stop “unjustified measures on unilateral packaging labeling, which undermine the integrity of the Single Market for packaging and packaged goods and the transition towards more sustainable packaging solutions.”

A leading European chemicals industry association said European Union member states should increase enforcement of chemicals regulations, especially for imported goods, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Aug. 18. The association, the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC), recently released a report that showed a “steep increase” from 2019 to 2020 in cases related to noncompliance with the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) legislation, in which an imported product’s country of origin was unknown. The report also showed rises in other import compliance issues, including an increase in instances of mercury in “skin‑lightening products” imported from the Ivory Coast and Pakistan, and an increase in cases of noncompliance involving air conditioning systems and hand sanitizers. CEFIC said the data points to “an urgent need for EU Member States to step up enforcement of REACH particularly for imported goods, including from online marketplaces.”