The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation removed sanctions from two Iraqi entities, according to a Nov. 7 notice. The decision to remove sanctions from the two entities -- Iraq’s State Organization for Irrigation Projects and its State Organization for Land Reclamation -- reflects recent decisions by the United Nations Security Council, OFSI said.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three Nicaraguan government officials involved in human rights abuses, election fraud and corruption Treasury said Nov. 7. Ramon Antonio Avellan Medal, deputy director general of the Nicaraguan National Police, was designated for carrying out the government's “repressive measures,” including arbitrary arrests and executions, the agency said. Lumberto Ignacio Campbell Hooker, acting president of the Nicaraguan Supreme Electoral Council, was sanctioned for running an entity that ensures President Daniel Ortega wins elections. Roberto Jose Lopez Gomez, director of the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute, was designated for corruption.

The U.S. plans to target and “aggressively” enforce measures against shipping companies across the globe that violate U.S. sanctions, a top State Department official said, according to a Nov. 6 Reuters report. David Peyman, deputy assistant secretary of state for counter threat finance and sanctions, told reporters in London that ships are being used as a “key artery to evade sanctions,” according to Reuters. “If behavior doesn’t change, notwithstanding our very frank conversations and clear messages, then we do look toward fully and aggressively and consistently enforcing U.S. sanctions across the board as a means to change behavior of bad actors,” he said.

China and U.S. agreed to lift tariffs in stages as they progress in trade talks, China’s Ministry of Commerce said during a Nov. 7 press conference. “If the two parties reach the first phase agreement, they should cancel the tariffs that have been imposed according to the content of the agreement,” a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said, according to an unofficial translation. “The trade war starts with the addition of tariffs and should also be terminated by the elimination of tariffs.” The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not comment.

A Florida-based aviation investment management company was fined about $210,000 after it committed 12 violations of U.S. sanctions against Sudan, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a Nov. 7 notice. The company, Apollo Aviation Group, which has since been bought by The Carlyle Group and is now Carlyle Aviation Partners, committed the violations in transactions involving the lease of three aircraft engines, the notice said. Apollo allegedly leased the engines to a United Arab Emirates company, which subleased the engines to a Ukrainian airline, which installed the engines on an aircraft wet leased to Sudan Airways.

Companies and trade groups are concerned about the consequences of the Commerce Department’s efforts to restrict sales of emerging technologies and are growing impatient with a delay that has stretched several months, stakeholders said in interviews. Nearly a year after Commerce issued advance notice that they planned to review the technologies, some companies are confused about the delay and fear the controls won’t be fully coordinated with U.S. allies, causing their customers to simply seek foreign sellers.

The United Kingdom has been “far too slow” in imposing unilateral sanctions against human rights abusers and should appoint a senior official responsible for implementing sanctions policy, Britain's House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said in a Nov. 4 report. The report, which was the committee’s second of 2019, makes several sanctions-related recommendations to Britain's Foreign Commonwealth Office and is critical of the country’s approach to sanctions. The committee asked for updates to its suggestions by May 2020.

Kazakhstan implemented a value-added tax pilot program that aims to improve VAT administration procedures, including electronic VAT invoices, according to a Nov. 6 KPMG post. Under the program, the government may conduct “a desktop review” of participants before the tax reporting deadline and request “that taxpayers with a high degree of tax risk … provide documentation confirming the transaction or service performance,” KPMG said. Participants are required to resolve violations uncovered by the government within five business days and must submit copies of requested documents. If the taxpayer does not comply with the government, tax authorities can limit the taxpayer’s access “to the information system for electronic VAT invoices,” KPMG said. Taxpayers with a high degree of “tax risk” or that purchase goods from VAT-payers with a high degree of tax risk may participate in the program, the post said. The program was launched in October and will end July 1, 2021.

In the Nov. 4-6 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

Mexico recently passed tax legislation that amends the country’s value-added tax laws to improve collection efficiency, KPMG said in a Nov. 5 post. The legislation also clarified that revenue from certain foreign “digital or e-commerce services” provided to Mexican residents will be subject to VAT. The laws introduce new registration and reporting requirements for foreign providers, KPMG said.