The United Kingdom Dec. 2 published guidance for European Union companies importing from or exporting to the U.K. after Brexit. The U.K. also issued guidance on how tariffs and taxes will apply to EU businesses. The guidance has information on trading animal products, plant products, energy-related goods, manufactured goods, chemicals, controlled goods and other items. The U.K. stressed EU companies should review import procedures with their country’s customs authority before importing U.K. products next year, and said EU exporters will need to follow “new traffic management processes at ports to avoid delays.”
The European Parliament released a November report on extraterritorial sanctions and their “legality under general international law.” The report includes an overview of U.S. sanctions and their impacts on the EU and member states -- including U.S. designations on Iran, Cuba and the Nord Stream 2 project (see 2007150021) -- and how the EU can protect itself against those impacts. The report recommends that the EU help European companies find “recourse” through arbitration and national courts and to consider challenging the legality of some U.S. sanctions through the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement system. The EU should also consider countermeasures to U.S. sanctions, the EP said, but stopped short of asking the EU to follow through with those measures. “At this stage, the application of such measures could hardly be recommended,” the report said. “However, it might be helpful to clearly state that the EU is aware of this option and will consider it.”
The European Union's equivalent of secretary of state is calling for coordination with the U.S. on regulatory conformity, choosing a new director-general at the World Trade Organization and restoring the appellate body there, in a policy paper released Dec. 2. High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles said they need to intensify trilateral work between the EU, Japan and the U.S. on how to address market-distorting practices that WTO rules aren't effective in addressing. “We should also work together to bring forward the WTO e-commerce negotiations,” he said.
The United Nations Security Council removed sanctions from one person and 11 entities designated under its Iraq sanctions regime, it said Dec. 1. The move removes designations from Muhammad Mahdi Al-Salih and from a range of manufacturing, textile and industrial companies and organizations.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended four entries under its Sudan sanctions, a Dec. 1 notice said. The revision updates identifying information for a former Sudanese government official and current military and militant leaders.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Lucio Rodriguez Serrano as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker for working on behalf of Mexican drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero, OFAC said Dec. 2. OFAC said Serrano and Quintero are “lifelong friends” and Serrano has helped Quintero evade capture from U.S. authorities. Quintero is on the FBI’s most-wanted list. Timothy Shea, acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said arresting Quintero is a “top priority” for the DEA. “Today’s action by Treasury is an important step in our joint mission to disrupt, dismantle, and destroy violent drug trafficking organizations and in bringing Caro Quintero to justice,” Shea said. OFAC also deleted six Mexico and Colombia-related sanctions entries and revised one Mexico-related entry.
While the United Kingdom will continue many of the same sanctions regimes imposed by the European Union, companies should not assume the two sets of sanctions regulations will be “identical” after Brexit, the U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said. In a Dec. 1 blog post, OFSI said some of its regulations have revised wording and urged businesses to review U.K. sanctions to make sure their “activities are still compliant.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security should apply the “minimal” necessary level of export controls on foundational technologies to prevent impacts on U.S. academic research, universities said in comments to the agency. BIS also should reexamine which technologies it defines as “emerging” because some are already commercially widespread, a British aerospace company said.
China criticized the U.S. decision this week to sanction the China National Electronics Import & Export Corp. (see 2011300035), saying it opposes U.S. unilateral sanctions and interference in Venezuela. The U.S. sanctioned the Chinese company for exporting advanced technologies and technical expertise to Venezuela. “The U.S. practice is nothing but another pretext to suppress Venezuela and relevant Chinese companies,” a ministry spokesperson said Dec. 1 during a regular press conference. “China will take necessary measures to uphold the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.”
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation published a guidance Dec. 1 for its Lebanon sanctions, including details on enforcement measures and license exceptions, and how the sanctions will apply beginning Jan. 1, 2021, the day the U.K. leaves the European Union.