The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated a Nicaraguan financial institution and two government officials for undermining Nicaragua’s democracy, OFAC said Oct. 9. The sanctions target Cooperativa De Ahorro Y Credito Caja Rural Nacional RL, a bank that is “not subject to traditional regulatory oversight,” and Nicaraguan Attorney General Ana Julia Guido De Romero and Secretary of the Presidency Paul Herbert Oquist Kelley.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom called on the European Union to impose sanctions on those responsible for the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, a Russian political opposition leader. France and Germany said Navalny’s poisoning was an “attack on the elementary principles of democracy” and represented a “shocking new use of a chemical weapon,” according to an unofficial translation of an Oct. 7 joint statement. “France and Germany will send their European partners proposals for additional sanctions, the statement said. The U.K. on Oct. 7 said it “stands side by side” with Germany and France. “We will work together with our international partners to take forward sanctions targeting Russian officials and others who are considered responsible for this crime as well those involved in the development of the Novichok chemical weapon programme,” U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should be careful not to place overly broad, unilateral export restrictions on items for crowd control reasons if the controls disproportionately hurt U.S. competitiveness, industry told BIS in comments released this month. But some commenters, including a human rights advocacy group and a Congress member, called for new export restrictions and suggested existing controls -- especially on technologies that contribute to Chinese human rights abuses -- should be tightened.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria and Yoo Myung-hee of the Republic of Korea are the two finalists for director-general at the World Trade Organization, the WTO announced Oct. 8. Both are women, so either would be the first woman to lead the organization. Okonjo-Iweala, a long-time development economist and former finance and foreign minister in Nigeria, has not been a trade negotiator (see 2007210040). Yoo is South Korea's trade minister, and was involved in the renegotiation of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement during the Trump administration.
The United Kingdom on Oct. 8 updated its guidance on existing trade agreements with non-European Union countries to reflect the signing of a deal with Ukraine. The agreement will allow U.K. companies to continue trading with Ukraine under existing conditions after the U.K. leaves the EU Jan. 1, 2021, the country said in a news release. Trade Secretary Liz Truss said the deal will specifically benefit the U.K.’s aircraft, automotive and pharmaceutical industries, while the Scotch Whisky Association said Ukraine will continue to serve as a “growing market” for whisky exports.
Russia recently notified the World Trade Organization of draft revisions for the use of electronic veterinary certificates within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and foreign trade via G/SPS/N/RUS/196, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Oct. 6. The measure will allow traders to use veterinary certificates “issued in electronic form” for all “controlled goods” during import, export, transit and transfer within the EAEU. The public comment period in the draft will close Nov. 20, USDA said, but encouraged U.S. companies to share comments with the agency at us.spsenquirypoint@fas.usda.gov by Nov. 6.
India removed export restrictions on “N95/FFP2” masks, the country’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in an Oct. 6 notice. The country had previously announced a monthly export quota for the masks to maintain domestic supply during the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2008270008).
China issued guidance on its value-added tax “reduction policies” for certain anti-cancer and rare disease drugs, a Sept. 30 notice said, according to an unofficial translation. China said it will reduce VATs on those imported drugs by 3% and will allow “general VAT taxpayers” to “produce, sell, wholesale and retail” the drugs. The notice also contains instructions on how to declare the imports with Chinese customs and a list of drugs that qualify.
The U.S. seized 92 domain names used by Iran’s sanctioned Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to spread online propaganda, the Department of Justice said in an Oct. 7 news release. IRGC violated U.S. sanctions by using website and domain services in the U.S. without the required license from the Treasury Department, DOJ said. Use of the domains also violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act because the domains were operated by U.S. companies, which were not authorized to provide services to Iran.
Two U.S. senators urged the Trump administration to impose sanctions against Turkey for its purchase of Russian missile systems and criticized the Defense Department for not moving fast enough to remove Turkey from F-35 supply chains. Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and James Lankford, R-Okla., said the State Department should immediately impose asset freezes under the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act, adding that Turkey has “no intention of reversing course and divesting of this system.”