The United Kingdom has appointed Emma Wade-Smith has been appointed consul general to New York and commissioner for North America, the Department for International Trade said Sept. 27. Wade-Smith currently serves as trade commissioner for Africa and has previously held diplomatic positions in the U.S., DIT said. The new appointment will take effect in November. She will seek to promote U.K. trade and investment in the U.S. and Canada, “with the aim of accelerating job creation and opportunities across the UK, and working with businesses across North America to support growth and innovation,” DIT said.
The European Commission in a Sept. 27 notice announced the impending expiration of anti-subsidy measures on certain stainless steel bars and rods from India, unless a review of the duties is initiated. European Union manufacturers can submit a written request for a review up to three months before the June 29 expiration date.
The European Commission initiated an antidumping investigation into electrolytic chromium coated steel products from China and Brazil, it said in a Sept. 24 notice. Acting on a complaint from the European Steel Association, the commission will look into whether “flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, plated or coated with chromium oxides or with chromium and chromium oxides” are being sold at less than fair value and thereby harming the domestic industry. Comments on the product scope will be accepted by Oct. 4. The period under review is July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021.
The European Parliament called for targeted sanctions against individuals and entities in Lebanon, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates and Cuba, in four Sept. 16 resolutions. In one such resolution, the parliament called for sanctions on anyone falling under the new Lebanon sanctions framework, which was in response to Lebanon's “political, economic, social, financial and health crisis.” In a second resolution, the parliament called for sanctions under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime for individual and entities responsible for human rights atrocities committed by the Taliban in Afghanistan during its takeover of the country. The parliament called for targeted sanctions against those in the UAE responsible for the persecution of Ahmed Mansoor and other human rights defenders under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. The parliament also seeks sanctions on those responsible for human rights violations in Cuba related to the government crackdown on protesters and citizens.
The European Commission published guidance Sept. 23 designed to help researchers and academics comply with European Union and member state laws on dual-use goods and technology, as well as to help them "to identify, manage and mitigate risks associated with dual-use export controls." The guidance contains three sections, with the first constituting an introduction for the management level in research organizations, with emphasis on how this level of management's commitment to compliance is instrumental in implementing internal compliance measures; the second dealing with awareness information for researchers, including "the basics of dual-use export controls"; and the third providing specific guidance to compliance staff on how to establish an internal compliance program.
The National Federation of Self Employed and Small Businesses (FSB), a United Kingdom-based lobbying group representing small firms and the self-employed, called for urgent aid for small exporters, in a Sept. 24 report, to help them benefit from the U.K.'s new free trade agreements. The Ready to Launch report urges the Department for International Trade to revise and replace the Tradeshow Access Programme, which the report notes was recently ended, with an initiative modeled on the Canadian CanExport program to provide funding for participation in more trade activities. The lobbying group also wants greater export support, including advice from the DIT network of international trade advisers, for the small exporter community, which it says is “left in the dark about the real benefits of” FTAs.
Russia renewed its import ban on agricultural products, raw materials and food including beef, pork, fruit, vegetables, fish and dairy products from the U.S., the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Norway, Ukraine, Albania, Montenegro, Iceland and Lichtenstein until Dec. 31, 2022. The ban was initially put in place Aug. 6, 2014, in retaliation for Western sanctions on Russia, according to a Sept. 23 post on the EU Sanctions blog.
The European Union General Court dismissed Maher Al-Imam's application to drop his sanctions listing from the EU's Syria sanctions regime, in a Sept. 22 ruling, according to an unofficial translation. Al-Imam challenged the European Council's assessment of the facts that the applicant was an influential businessman in Syria with connections to the Syrian regime. The court ruled that the council properly made this finding and that Al-Imam is an influential businessman in Syria. The court also held that the applicant's right to an effective judicial remedy was not violated and that the restrictions on the applicant's rights are justified given the human rights situation in Syria.
The European Union added environmental and good governance conditions to its Generalized Scheme of Preferences reform proposal as factors that could lead to the suspension of the GSP for low-income countries, the European Commission said. The change is one of many in the proposal.
The European Commission commenced, on its own initiative, a partial interim review of the countervailing duties on imports of rainbow trout from Turkey, it said Sept. 20. The commission is reviewing product described as “rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) live weighing 1, 2 kg or less each; or fresh, chilled, frozen and/or smoked: in the form of whole fish (with heads on), whether or not gilled, whether or not gutted, weighing 1,2 kg or less each; or with heads off, whether or not gilled, whether or not gutted, weighing 1 kg or less each; or in the form of fillets weighing 400 g or less each originating in the Republic of Turkey.” The commission said it is conducting the review because “there is sufficient evidence” that the circumstances with regard to subsidization “on the basis of which the existing measures were imposed have changed and that these changes are of a lasting nature.” The Turkish government enacted these changes in 2016, specifically making "significant changes on the structure and the terms of implementation of the subsidies granted by the Turkish Government to producers of rainbow trout." Those changes "led to a decrease of direct subsidies received by Turkish rainbow trout producers," the notice said.