Syrian national Mazin Al-Tarazi, a Kuwait resident, will remain sanctioned by the European Union following an April 14 EU General Court decision dismissing his application to be removed from the list. The court found that while Al-Tarazi had raised a reasonable doubt as to his role in certain projects such as the construction of Marota City and investments in the construction and aviation industries, he is a “leading businessperson operating in Syria.” Al-Tarazi owns a luxury hotel in Syria and is licensed to operate a private airline, making him a prominent businessperson who “benefits from and/or supports the Syrian regime,” the court said.

Russia recently notified the World Trade Organization of planned revisions to certain Eurasian Economic Union phytosanitary requirements, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service reported April 28. The draft measures will add new requirements for “fungal spawn” and introduce changes to the EAEU’s phytosanitary regulations related to the use of electronic documents, USDA said. Public comments are due June 5.

The EU General Court vacated 2017 and 2020 acts from the European Council designating Aisha Gadhafi, the daughter of former Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi, for its sanctions regime, in an April 21 decision. Finding that the EU did not provide individual, specific and concrete reasons as to why she remained on the sanctions list, the court removed her name. The European Council relied on public statements from Gadhafi in 2011 and 2013 calling for the overthrow of the Libyan authorities, but the court found these statements unconvincing. Seeing as her circumstances have changed, the EC needed to show why the sentiments held in the statements still hold today, the court said.

The European Union officially adopted a trade agreement with the United Kingdom, the European Council announced in an April 29 news release. The deal governing zero tariff and zero quota policies for trade goes into effect May 1. While the agreement had been applied conditionally since the U.K.'s official exit from the bloc, the terms are now official following an overwhelming vote from the European Parliament. Concerns over the agreement's passage were raised after Parliament delayed the vote to protest the U.K.'s handling of the Northern Ireland border that saw a de facto hard border placed on the nation.

The European Court of Justice annulled a 2018 decision by the General Court of the European Union to delist the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) from the terror-related sanctions regime. In an April 22 opinion, the ECJ found that the lower court should have considered the evidence relating to why the European Council decided to continue listing the PKK as subject to sanctions. Determining that not all the evidence had been considered, the ECJ remanded the case to the lower court.

The United Kingdom and Australia agreed to the "vast majority of elements of a comprehensive free trade agreement," the UK's International Trade Minister Liz Truss announced in an April 23 statement. A full deal between the two parties is now expected in June, according to the statement. "We have made major breakthroughs over the past few days and an agreement is now in sight," Truss said. "We will spend the next few weeks ironing out details and resolving outstanding issues."

The European Union held its fourth negotiating round with five African nations to expand the existing Economic Partnership Agreement, the European Commission announced in an April 22 report on the negotiations. The participating nations are Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe. The parties discussed seven primary issues: customs and trade facilitation; mutual administrative assistance protocol; sanitary and phytosanitary issues; rules of origin; trade and sustainable development; trade in services, investment liberalization, digital trade; and economic and development cooperation, the EC said. Both sides submitted detailed proposals for rules of origin and also discussed a joint text on trade and sustainable development for the first time, it said.

Lithuanian fertilizer manufacturer Lifosa UAB does not have to pay taxes twice for transportation costs it negotiated on imports from a Belarusian company, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled April 22. In its purchase contract, Lifosa negotiated that the Belarusian company would pay the transport costs of the goods, making them essentially priced into the goods themselves, the court said, even if those transportation costs are greater than the cost of the goods. "The costs actually incurred by the producer for their transport to the place where they have been brought into the customs territory of the European Union should not be added to the transaction value of the goods when, according to the agreed delivery terms, the obligation to cover those costs lies with the producer, even though those costs exceed the price actually paid by the importer, provided that that price corresponds to the real value of the goods, a matter which is for the referring court to establish,” the opinion said.

The United Kingdom's Export Control Joint Unit and Department for International Trade on April 22 updated its guidance on standard individual export licenses (SIELs) to aid exporters trading in applicable goods. The new sections include information on when an exporter can use a SIEL, what the company will need to complete an application, how long it takes to get a license, exporter responsibilities, customs declarations, compliance and legal obligations.

The European Commission is preparing legal proceedings against British vaccine developer AstraZeneca for cutting COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to the European Union, Reuters reported April 22. The cut in vaccine deliveries prompted major delays in the bloc's vaccine rollout and the imposition of an export control regime on vaccines. Two diplomats told Reuters that the legal challenge was discussed April 21 at a meeting with EU officials, and most states present indicated support for the proceedings. However, no decision has yet been made, a commission spokesperson told a news conference.