The European Union renewed sanctions against Libya, the EU said in a March 30 notice. The sanctions were extended for six months.
The World Trade Organization recently updated a guidance detailing how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting world trade, saying every WTO member is “free” to impose export controls on key medical supplies. However, the WTO stressed that international trade is “crucial to ensuring access to medicines and other medical products,” and said members should not impose controls that “discriminate” or “constitute a disguised restriction.” The guidance also contains an updated list of member notifications to the WTO that detail export control actions and other trade measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus and the disease it causes. Several countries have said they are committed to keeping trade lanes open and stressed the importance of refraining from imposing export controls during the pandemic (see 2003260029).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 23-27 in case you missed them.
Thompson Hine hired Francesca Guerrero, previously with Winston & Strawn, as a partner in the firm's International Trade practice, it said in a news release. “Guerrero brings to the firm extensive experience advising companies on compliance with export controls, sanctions, import regulations, and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” the firm said.
The European Union will begin patrols of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea to enforce the United Nations Security Council arms embargo on Libya, according to a March 27 press release from the EU Council and a post from the EU Sanctions blog. The measure was taken because the “fighting has increased” in Libya despite international calls for a truce and the UN arms embargo, the council said.
Fifteen former and current Venezuela government officials were charged by the U.S. Justice Department for corruption and drug trafficking, including several charges for sanctions and export control violations, the agency said in a March 26 news release. In addition to narco-terrorism charges against Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, separate indictments charge Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah, Venezuela’s vice president for the economy; Joselit Ramirez Camacho, superintendent of crypto currency; and Samark Lopez Bello, a Venezuelan businessman, with evasion of U.S. sanctions. Maddah and Camacho worked with U.S. people and companies to provide flight services to benefit Maduro’s 2018 presidential campaign, which violated U.S. sanctions against Maduro’s election efforts.
The Trump administration should be doing more to restrict sales of emerging technologies to China, lawmakers said in interviews earlier this month. Senators commended the administration for increasing foreign direct investment restrictions (see 2002260042) and going further than previous administrations in confronting China’s unfair trade practices, but said they will continue pushing for tighter restrictions.
Arent Fox issued an export control reference guide with governments that have imposed export restrictions on personal protective equipment due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, according to a March 27 post. The law firm recently updated the list to include export control measures imposed by Bahrain, Canada, Kenya, New Zealand and Vietnam, and updated information for controls imposed by India, Singapore and Turkey.
Switzerland is requiring a prior license for exports of medical protective equipment to countries outside the European Union and European Free Trade Association, according to a March 26 post from Baker McKenzie. The announcement stemmed from an increased need for the equipment in Switzerland, the law firm said, including masks, gloves, glasses and overcoats. The measures are aimed at aligning Switzerland’s export control regime with the EU, which announced similar measures (see 2003200029).
Canada, Australia and five other countries issued a joint statement saying they are committed to keeping trade lanes open and stressed the importance of refraining from imposing export controls during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trade should continue to “flow unimpeded” during the pandemic and should not hamper global air and sea ports, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Myanmar, New Zealand and Singapore said in a March 25 joint statement. “We recognise that it is in our mutual interest to ensure that trade lines remain open, including via air and sea freight, to facilitate the flow of goods including essential supplies,” the countries said.