The European Commission launched a new complaint system to allow companies, trade groups and member states to report market access barriers presented by trading partners, a Nov. 16 news release said. The system will help the European Union’s “increased efforts to strengthen the enforcement and implementation of trade agreements” and will allow industry an increased voice in government priorities. “Stakeholders now will play a direct role in ensuring that EU trade policy delivers both on trade opportunities and on raising labour and environmental standards,” Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said. Complaints must include a “detailed factual description of the issue at stake,” and when market access is the issue, must include a description of “the alleged barrier's potential economic impact.”
The United Nations Security Council extended the mandate for the Panel of Experts on Somalia until Dec. 15, 2021, and renewed the “partial lifting” of the arms embargo on the country's security forces, the UNSC said Nov. 12. The arms embargo exempts deliveries of arms, technical advice, financial assistance or training intended for Somali security forces, and prohibits the resale or making available to outside entities of weapons and military equipment “supplied to the Somali National Security Forces or Somali security sector institutions.” The UNSC also condemned exports of charcoal from Somalia, which are banned, as “illicit flows that may finance terrorist activities.” It also cautioned against transactions that might involve “direct or indirect sale or transfer of items that could be used in manufacturing ... [improvised explosive] devices” used in the escalating number of attacks undertaken by Al‑Shabaab, the East African terrorist fundamentalist group.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued a financial sanctions guidance for charities on Nov. 13. The agency stressed that charitable organizations are responsible for complying with sanctions, applying for licenses and reporting “suspected breaches of financial sanctions to OFSI at the earliest opportunity.”
The European Union removed Neda Industrial Group from its Iranian sanctions regime, it said Nov. 13. The company had supplied electricity to Iran, but the European General Court found the company’s “provision of services” to an Iranian uranium enrichment plant “was not sufficient to support its designation,” a Nov. 13 EU Sanctions blog post said.
Corey Stewart, a trade lawyer and supporter of President Donald Trump who lost a 2018 Senate race in Virginia, was named to a “newly created” senior position in the Commerce Department to oversee export regulations, Reuters said in a Nov. 16 report. Stewart will hold the post of principal deputy assistant secretary for export administration, Reuters said, which is above the post of Matthew Borman, the deputy assistant secretary for export administration. Stewart is being brought in to help “push through hardline policies on China” before the Joe Biden administration takes over, the report said. Stewart is expected to serve in the role until the end of the Trump administration on Jan. 20, 2021. The Commerce Department and its Bureau of Industry and Security did not immediately comment. The announcement came about four months after Rich Ashooh, former Commerce assistant secretary for export administration, resigned in July (see 2007020027).
More than a dozen countries officially signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership on Nov. 15 after years of negotiations (see 2005130018), paving the way for lower trade barriers for a range of countries throughout the Asia Pacific. The deal -- signed by the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states and China, Japan, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand -- aims to become an “unprecedented mega regional trading arrangement,” the countries said in a joint statement, covering a market of about 2.2 billion people.
The Trump administration is considering imposing new export controls and sanctions against China in the coming weeks, a senior administration official said. The moves are meant to further cement Trump’s China policies under the incoming Joe Biden administration, the official said, which may find the measures difficult to reverse.
The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The World Customs Organization on Nov. 13 released correlation tables comparing the upcoming 2022 version of the Harmonized System tariff schedule with the 2017 version. “While not legal instruments, the Correlation Tables have become essential tools for Members and the wider trade community in preparing for the introduction of a new edition of the HS. These tables provide guidance on the correlations between the Seventh Edition of the Harmonized System (HS), which comes into force on 1 January 2022 and the current HS 2017 (Sixth Edition) of the HS,” the WCO said. One of the two tables correlates the 2022 version with the 2017 version, and includes explanations of any changes. The other sets the correlation starting from the 2017 version to the 2022 version, the WCO said.
Turkey recently reduced tariffs on lentils and temporarily eliminated duties on sunflower seeds, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report released Nov. 9. The changes, made Nov. 5, reduced tariffs on red lentils from 19.3% to 9% “until further notice,” and reduced tariffs on sunflower seeds to zero through June 2021, the report said. Turkey made the moves because of the rising cost of imported goods, which has had “large effects on domestic food and feed prices.”