EU member states need to strengthen customs controls and cooperation, particularly to deal with the "rapid growth of e-commerce," the European Commission said in a new report this week.

The U.K.'s Export Control Joint Unit informed traders that the EU recently expanded its lists of export-controlled goods that can be used for "capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." The move expands the "scope of controlled items in Annexes II and III" of the EU regulation, the U.K. said. The change took effect Aug. 20 and "applies directly to Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework," the agency said, which is a post-Brexit agreement that kept Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods. "The implications for Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) are under consideration and a further update will be published in due course."

The EU this week posted new guidance about ownership and control to its Sanctions Helpdesk website, describing the rules that apply to entities owned or controlled by a sanctioned party, how the EU defines ownership and control, how EU companies can rebut the presumption of ownership or control, and more. The guidance also recommended that EU companies take several due diligence steps to make sure their customers, suppliers and counterparties aren't controlled by a sanctioned entity or person, including by collecting information to verify their ownership structure, checking any possible "red flags" and asking questions to "resolve any remaining concerns."

The EU last week issued new guidance on a requirement created in 2024 that calls on EU parent companies to make “best efforts” to ensure that their third-country subsidiaries aren’t enabling sanctions evasion (see 2411220014 and 2406240024). Although this “legal obligation applies only in the context of sanctions on Russia and Belarus,” the European Commission said it’s encouraging all EU parent companies “to seek to ensure that all entities they own or control do not undermine EU sanctions anywhere in the world.”

Switzerland is asking exporters to strengthen their compliance procedures to protect against sanctions evaders that are increasingly looking to buy Swiss-origin machine tools, the country said in new guidance published this week.

Switzerland is "strengthening" its humanitarian exemptions under its sanctions regimes to "provide greater clarity" to aid groups, the Swiss Federal Council said this month. The changes, which will take effect Sept. 15, build on the U.N.'s humanitarian exemptions that Switzerland adopted in 2023 (see 2304280023) and are "consistent with Switzerland's humanitarian tradition and its longstanding commitment to protecting humanitarian activities in situations affected by sanctions."

The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued three new FAQs to provide guidance on its Russia-related general license that authorizes certain transactions involving brokerage firms.

The U.K.'s Export Control Joint Unit launched a new "ultimate end-user screen" for exporters to complete when filling in license application details in its Licensing for International Trade (LITE) system. The new section, called "Details of possible ultimate end users," allows the filer to submit information "for situations when details of ultimate end-users are not or partly known," the U.K. said, including when a product is "onward exported and held in stock."

The U.K.'s $400,000 fine in July of a British management services firm for violating Russia sanctions (see 2507310042) shows that merely having a sanctions compliance program may not be enough to mitigate a fine, Steptoe said in a client alert.

The European Commission this month updated its sanctions guidance on banned Russian diamonds, including sections related to tracing diamond imports, required certifications and verifications, resources for importers and more.