Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some top stories for 2020 in case they were missed.

The United Kingdom officially began operating its autonomous sanctions and export control regimes Jan. 1 and issued a range of guidance for industry as it left the European Union. The documents include a 32-page guidance covering penalties for breaches of U.K. sanctions, a list of the U.K. sanctions regimes and a host of export control guidance, including new procedures for applying for export licenses.

The United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade Dec. 29 updated the guidance on its open general import license and its use. The U.K. updated the guidance and the license to reflect that the Brexit transition period ends Jan. 1, 2021, when the updated version takes effect. The guidance includes explanations of the licensing provisions affected by the end of the transition period, including those related to firearms, chemical weapons and sanctions.

ssssThe United Kingdom on Dec. 29 updated its guidance on existing trade agreements with non-European Union countries. The guidance now includes information on trade agreements that will take effect Jan. 1, 2021, with Turkey, Vietnam, the Solomon Islands, Samoa and the Republic of Guyana.

India lifted export restrictions on certain types of onions, the country’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade said Dec. 28. The notice removes export restrictions on all varieties of onion, including “Bangalore Rose onions and Krishnapuram onions” and onions that are “cut, sliced or broken in powder form,” listed under two Harmonized System tariff codes. The export restrictions, initially announced in September (see 2009150019), were causing shipping backlogs at India’s ports and borders (see 2009240016).

India recently amended its regulations and standards for fortification of processed food products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said Dec. 27. The regulations include “permissible micronutrient fortification levels” for various processed products, including breads, pastas and breakfast cereals. The regulations take effect July 1, 2021.

China will allow imports of Vietnamese grass jelly, also known as cold powder grass, subject to phytosanitary requirements for the subject goods, the country’s General Administration of Customs said in a Dec. 28 notice, according to an unofficial translation. The notice includes quarantine and phytosanitary requirements for the imports, as agreed to earlier in the month when China and Vietnam signed a related protocol.

The State Department approved five potential military sales to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait worth about $4.66 billion combined, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Dec. 29.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a California technology company nearly $100,000 for sanctions violations, a Dec. 30 Treasury Department notice said. It said BitGo committed 183 violations of U.S. sanctions programs when it allowed people in Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine's Crimea region to use its “non-custodial secure digital wallet management service.” The company “had reason to know” the people sanctioned countries were using BitGo’s services, OFAC said, but “failed to implement controls” to prevent the violations.

The Census Bureau updated the Schedule B and Harmonized Tariff Schedule tables in the Automated Export System to “accept changes” to the new Jan. 1 codes, the Census Bureau said in a Dec. 30 email. Census said AES will accept shipments with “outdated codes” during a 30-day grace period beyond the Dec. 31 expiration date, but reporting an outdated code after the grace period will result in a “fatal error.” Census also said it updated the Automated Commercial Environment AESDirect program with the 2021 codes, adding the program will also accept outdated codes during the grace period.