The European Union threatened more sanctions on Venezuela if no “concrete results” are reached during the upcoming negotiations scheduled between Venezuelan leader Juan Guaido and opposition-party leader Nicolas Maduro, the EU Council said in a July 16 press release. The council said it welcomes the negotiations, which are being brokered by Norway, and said the two sides must reach a “genuine engagement” that results in “internationally monitored elections.” If not, “the EU will further expand its targeted measures,” the council said.

The European Union Council renewed sanctions against North Korea, including asset freezes on entities and people who contribute to the country’s ballistic missile programs and sanctions evasions, the council said in a July 15 press release. The council said its sanctions against North Korea are the toughest against any country and will be lifted if there is a “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.” The sanctions regime targets 57 people and nine entities.

The European Union is looking at options for potential Turkey sanctions “in light of Turkey’s continued drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean,” the European Council said in a July 15 press release. The council directed the European Commission to “continue work on options for targeted measures” directed at Turkey. The announcement stems from Turkey’s “illegal” drilling west and northeast of Cyprus despite the EU’s “repeated calls” to stop, the council said.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 8-12 in case they were missed.

Bipartisan members of the Senate and House introduced a bill on July 16 that would prevent the Trump administration from removing Huawei from Commerce’s Entity List without congressional approval. The bill would also give Congress oversight of Huawei-related export licenses granted by Commerce, allowing Congress to issue a “joint resolution of disapproval” to render any export license inactive.

Global export controls and international sanctions are not stopping luxury goods from entering North Korea, which is employing a significantly larger smuggling scheme than previously known, according to a July 16 report from the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (CADS), a nonprofit research organization in Washington. The 56-page report details how North Korea works with intermediaries, freight forwarders, private financiers and others to smuggle luxury goods into the country. The report also places North Korea’s smuggling system into context: Between 2015 and 2017, at least 90 countries “served as luxury goods procurement sources” for North Korea, the report said.

The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:​​

The European Commission posted the texts from the trade agreement with Mercosur (see 1906280060). "The texts are published for information purposes only and may undergo further modifications including as a result of the process of legal revision," the EC said. "However, in view of the growing public interest in the negotiations, the texts are published at this stage of the negotiations for information purposes. These texts are without prejudice to the final outcome of the agreement between the EU and Mercosur."

The European Union General Court annulled an act that sanctioned seven Ukrainians, including the country’s former president and other government officials, according to a July 15 post on the EU Sanctions blog. The court removed sanctions from former Ukrainian president Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr Viktorovych Yanukovych, former minister of revenue and duties Oleksandr Klymenko, former prime minister Sergej Arbuzov, former prosecutor general Viktor Pshonka and his son Artem Pshonka, and the former head of the president’s administration Andriy Klyuyev. All annulments were announced July 11.

There's a high volume of transaction numbers with an overdue status, the Canada Border Services Agency said in a July 15 email. "This indicates that some clients with release prior to payment privileges have submitted an interim accounting to obtain release of their goods but have not submitted the final accounting B3 nor submitted payment to CBSA," it said. Importers are responsible to ensure the final accounting documentation is provided, CBSA said. "Importers that do not account for overdue releases are deemed non-compliant and will be assessed duties, taxes, interest and penalties, and may also be subject to exam and/or verification," it said.