U.S. commercial space company Momentus has completed the requirements of a 2021 national security agreement with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., the company announced last week.
The European Council and Parliament on Jan. 30 reached a provisional agreement that could require new labeling requirements on honey and other food products. The deal, aimed at giving EU consumers more information on honey, fruit jams and fruit juices, would require honey producers to list the countries of origin on the product's label in descending order "based on weight" and include the "percentage that each country represents in the blend." For packages under 30 grams, the names of the countries of origin will be swapped with a two-letter International Organization for Standardization code. The provisional agreement needs to be approved by member states and undergo a legal review before it can be formally adopted, the council said.
The European Commission is proposing to extend the suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian goods for another year (see 2305250017). The measures were originally enacted in June 2022 to aid Ukraine following Russia's invasion.
The European Commission this week released a proposal that it said will allow Northern Ireland businesses to use U.K. tariff rate quotas for imports from third countries of various agri-food products. The commission said the “aim” of the proposal is to ensure Northern Ireland businesses can use the TRQs for commodities originating from the rest of the world, “such as New Zealand lamb.” The solution was negotiated by the EU and the U.K. as part of the Windsor Framework, the agreement signed between the two sides on post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland (see 2302270051).
The Bureau of Industry and Security reached a $153,175 settlement with Wabtec, a U.S. rail technology manufacturer and supplier, after the company violated BIS’ antiboycott regulations. The agency said Wabtec committed 43 violations when it failed to report to BIS that it received requests from a Pakistani customer to boycott goods from Israel.
The U.S. will make a statement in the dispute on the U.S. origin marking requirements for goods from Hong Kong during the World Trade Organization's Jan. 26 dispute settlement body meeting, the WTO said. A dispute panel ruled against the U.S. national security defense of its trade measure requiring goods from Hong Kong to be labeled as being made in China (see 2212220029).
Expect new EU action at the World Trade Organization in 2024, four Akin attorneys said in a Jan. 23 blog poost. With the exceptions of 2023 and 2007, the EU has filed at least one complaint every year since 1995, and is expected to "go back on the offensive" by starting at least one or two WTO spats this year, the attorneys said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week again renewed its temporary denial order for a Venezuela-based cargo airline after saying it continues to try to violate U.S. export restrictions in "continued disregard" for the terms of the TDO. BIS said Empresa de Transporte Aereocargo del Sur, also known as Aerocargo del Sur Transportation or Emtrasur, will continue to be subject to the denial order for 180 days from Jan. 21.
Behrouz Mokhtari of McLean, Virginia, and Tehran pleaded guilty Jan. 9 to two conspiracies to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran "by engaging in business activities on behalf of Iranian entities" without getting a license from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, DOJ announced Jan. 9. Mokhtari will forfeit money, property and assets obtained from the schemes, including a Campbell, California, home, and a money judgment of over $2.8 million, DOJ said. The defendant faces a maximum of five years in prison for each of the two conspiracy counts.
Electronics distribution company Broad Tech System and its president and owner, Tao Jiang of Riverside, California, pleaded guilty Jan. 11 to participating in a conspiracy to illegally ship chemicals made or distributed by a Rhode Island-based company to a Chinese firm with ties to the Chinese military, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Rhode Island announced. Jiang and Broad Tech admitted to violating the Export Control Act and conspiring to commit money laundering.