The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added seven names to its chemical weapons sanctions list, in an Aug. 20 financial sanctions notice. Added are Alexey Alexandrov, Vladimir Panyaev, Ivan Vladimirovich Osipov, Vladimir Mikhailovich Bogdanov, Kirill Vasilyev, Stanislav Valentinovich Makshakov and Alexei Semenovich Sedov, who are each subject to an asset freeze. All seven are operatives of Russia's Federal Security Service.
The United Kingdom's Department for International Trade amended five open general export licenses to exclude Afghanistan as a permissible destination, the department said in an Aug. 18 guidance. The five OGELs are export after exhibition: dual-use items; export for repair/replacement under warranty: dual-use items from December 2019; export for repair/replacement under warranty: dual-use items; OGEL (X) from December 2019; and OGEL (X).
The European Commission tacked a section onto its guidance for COVID-19-related aid to countries subject to EU sanctions, to discuss how the guidance extends to counterterrorism sanctions. In the Aug. 13 notice, the commission said sanctions do not cover medicine, medical equipment or assistance given to the population writ large. Sanctions also will not cover exports of medicine and equipment needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Humanitarian operators may “liaise” with sanctioned people or entities if it is needed to organize the provision of humanitarian aid in a safe and effective way, but these operators must ensure that their partners for the delivery of such humanitarian aid are not EU designated, the guidance said.
The Swiss Federal Council implemented an asset freeze and travel ban on eight Nicaraguan officials, joining the European Union in imposing the restrictions, according to a notice from the council. Due to an "ongoing violation of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Nicaragua," Switzerland made the restrictions, including on Vice President and first lady Rosario Maria Murillo de Ortega. The other seven affected individuals include Gustavo Eduardo Porras Cortes, Juan Antonio Valle Valle, Ana Julia Guido Ochoa, Fidel de Jesus Dominguez Alvarez, Juan Carlos Ortega Murillo, Alba Luz Ramos Vanegas and Bayardo Arce Castano. The council also delisted Libyan General Tohami Khaled, another decision in line with the EU's, since the general died.
The United Kingdom published a list of training events that will be hosted in different locations throughout the September through April 2022 time period, for firms needing to comply with British export control laws run by the Export Control Joint Unit. Training will be offered in Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Plymouth and Southampton and will cost either 120 or 180 pounds. The U.K.'s Department for International Trade said the events serve companies of all sizes, a wide range of knowledge levels and varied learning paths.
The Swiss Federal Council implemented greater restrictions on trade with Belarus Aug. 11 in response to the continuing repression of civil society and the opposition, the council said. The new sanctions package includes restrictions on trade in monitoring equipment, dual-use goods and technologies, petroleum and potassium chloride products, and goods used for tobacco production. Further, the council placed limits on the “issuance of and trading in certain financial instruments," along with the provision of loans and insurance to the Belarusian government. The country also imposed specific financial sanctions on Belaeronavigatsia, Belarus' state-owed air navigation services provider.
Dutch customs recently announced it will increase monitoring of import declarations for certain sectors, including in the textile, biodiesel, e-commerce and e-bike industries, KPMG said Aug. 12. The Netherlands said it will specifically monitor the customs value and tariff classification for clothing imported from China, Vietnam, India and others; increase monitoring of the origin and tariff classification for biodiesel and used cooking oil from the U.S.; more “intensively” audit e-commerce consignments; and more closely scrutinize the origin and customs value of all imported e-bikes. Although the customs agency said it will target those import declarations, other imports may “also be subject to additional scrutiny,” KPMG said.
Exports of legal services from the United Kingdom to Australia are expected to see big gains under the new trade agreement between the two countries, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said Aug. 13. Due to guarantees from Australia, British lawyers can continue to provide their services in Australia “using their existing qualifications with more clarity and certainty,” the U.K. said. Covered services include arbitration, conciliation and mediation. Bureaucratic hurdles in obtaining the necessary licenses will be slashed as well, the U.K. said. Eligibility for junior lawyers seeking to work in Australia was increased to 35 years old from 30, the news release said.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated six total listings under their Belarus and Global Anti-Corruption sanctions regimes Aug. 12, changing four and two listings, respectively, in two financial sanctions notices. The altered listings under the Belarus sanctions scheme were for Mikhail Safarbekovich Gutseriev, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and his son, Viktor Aliaksandravich Lukashenko, and Igor Petrovich Sergeenko. The changes under the global anti-corruption sanctions were for Alvaro Enrique Pulido Vargas and Alex Nain Saab Moran.
The European Union's blocking statute should be revised due to the increasing complexity and proliferation of extra-territorial sanctions and the bloc's "strong exposure to certain third countries," the European Commission suggested in a recently published impact assessment of the statute. The blocking regulations are meant to protect EU businesses from extra-territorial sanctions, including those imposed by the U.S., which are increasingly leading to global sanctions compliance issues in Europe (see 2108020030 and 2002190038).