The European Union renewed its sanctions regime against people and entities involved in developing and using chemical weapons, the European Council said in an Oct. 12 news release. The regime, which applies to nine people and one organization, was renewed for one year until Oct. 16, 2021.

The European Commission launched two online systems to help small and medium-sized companies trade with Iran. The European Union's Due Diligence Helpdesk and Sanctions Tool offer free support for companies doing “legitimate trade” with Iran, the commission said Oct. 6. The help desk will carry out due diligence checks to determine whether “specific business projects comply with EU sanctions,” the commission said, while the sanctions tool provides companies with “non-binding guidance on whether their business projects could fall under EU sanctions concerning Iran.” Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said the tools are meant to help “strengthen and facilitate legitimate trade between Iran and the EU.” The U.S. recently invoked snapback sanctions against Iran and criticized EU members for not supporting an arms embargo against the country (see 2009210022).

China will increase customs checks and requirements for cargo and other goods coming from Chad after an outbreak in that country of the chikungunya fever, China’s customs authority said in an Oct. 10 news release. Increased requirements will apply to “vehicles, containers, cargo, luggage items, mail, express mail, and corpse bones,” China said, which will require “sanitary quarantine.” Chikungunya fever causes symptoms in humans such as rash, fatigue and headache, with joint pain, and is spread by mosquitoes. The measures will be in place for six months.

The State Department approved potential military sales to Finland worth more than $27 billion, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Oct. 8. Under the first sale, Finland would get 64 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter CTOL aircraft, engines and related equipment worth about $12.5 billion. The prime contractors will be Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, Boeing and Raytheon Missiles and Defense. The second sale includes 50 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft, weapons and related equipment worth about $14.7 billion. The principal contractors will be Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, General Electric and Lockheed Martin.

The Department of the Treasury on Oct. 13 issued a current list of countries that require or may require participation in, or cooperation with, an international boycott. The list includes Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, unchanged from the previous iteration of the list. Treasury added that it is “monitoring the situation” in the UAE, which has announced that it issued a decree repealing its boycott of Israel. According to a Baker McKenzie Sanctions & Export Controls Update blog post on Sept. 21, while the UAE action “may eventually result in changes to the Commerce Regulations and Treasury Rules to reflect the UAE’s repeal of the boycott, this has not happened yet, and it could be some time before any changes occur.”

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Oct. 5-9 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The World Trade Organization announced that the European Union is entitled to hike tariffs on nearly $4 billion in U.S. goods due to the trade distorting effects of tax breaks for Boeing. The tariffs -- the levels of which have not been announced -- are not to go into effect immediately, but could affect civil aircraft, helicopters, tractors, chemicals, hazelnuts, wines, liquor, cotton and other products, according to a preliminary list of targets released last year.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee is reviewing new export controls on items related to semiconductors, potentially including design elements and software, said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas. McCaul said some U.S. export restrictions may need to be strengthened to address continuing Chinese attempts to steal U.S. technologies.

The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Oct. 12 (some may also be given separate headlines):

CMA CGM, American President Lines, APL, and ANL Singapore are asking the Federal Maritime Commission for permission to retroactively apply service contract rates and terms to shipments received on or after Sept. 27 for a period of 60 days (see 2010090022). Their petition also is asking for the ability to retroactively apply tariff rates communicated to its customers but that have not been published because of “major system impacts due to the recent cyber-attack.” The FMC is asking for public comments on this request through Oct. 15.