The EU General Court last week rejected Belarusian nitrogen compound producer Grodno Azot's application for delisting from the EU's sanctions regime on Belarus.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added a Chinese electronics company and a Canada-headquartered technology software company to the Entity List for trying to illegally acquire U.S. items or for being involved in other activities that are “contrary” to U.S. national security and foreign policy, the agency said Feb. 26. It also removed one United Arab Emirates-based entity from the Entity List.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week eliminated some license requirements for exports of certain cameras, systems and related components, which the agency said will help U.S. exporters better compete with foreign firms and reduce licensing burdens. The final rule, released Feb. 22, also introduces a new control for certain high-speed cameras that BIS said pose proliferation risks.
A World Trade Organization dispute panel on Feb. 20 found a U.S. attempt to revisit part of its countervailing duty laws as they pertain to subsidies on agricultural products violated the nation's WTO commitments. The panel said the U.S. failed to implement the findings of a previous dispute panel ruling, which said these same laws cut against the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in relation to a subsidy finding on ripe olives from Spain.
The U.K. Parliament’s Business and Trade Committee this week published a report on the country’s upcoming accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, outlining what the committee views as the trade deal's benefits and impact on U.K. trade, and recommendations for the government. It also includes testimony from U.K. government officials on the deal’s expected impacts on rules of origin procedures, expanded market access and goods sectors that may “lose” as a result of the partnership.
DOJ this week completed the forfeiture of a U.S.-origin Boeing 747 after a monthslong effort to seize the plane from Mahan Air, a sanctioned Iranian airline.
A Missouri-based defense contractor illegally sent export-controlled military technology data overseas to produce items for his contracts with the Defense Department, DOJ announced last week.
The U.K. on Feb. 6 amended the entry for Oleg Alexandrovich Mashtalyar under its Russia sanctions regime. The entry was revised to reflect that Mashtalyar no longer works as the vice chairman of the management board of Sovcombank, a Russian bank. Mashtalyar, who is still sanctioned, was originally designated for operating in Russia's financial services sector.
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.