The European Council removed the listing for the Libyan Arab African Investment Co. from its Libya sanctions regime after a ruling from the EU General Court annulling the listing. LAAICO was initially listed in 2016 and was upheld on the sanctions list in July. The General Court found the sanctions listing was not properly made.
Switzerland this month added new entries to its Democratic Republic of Congo sanctions regime, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. The agency added eight people and modified nine entries. The sanctions took effect Dec. 20.
The U.K. and India held the sixth round of free trade agreement talks Dec. 12-13, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said, with some officials attending in person in India and others joining virtually. The talks covered 11 policy areas over 28 sessions and included "detailed draft treaty text discussions in these policy areas," the DIT said. The next round of talks will take place early next year.
Russia and Iran are building a new trade route that runs from the eastern edge of Europe to the Indian Ocean, a path insulated from foreign intervention, Bloomberg reported Dec. 21. Using ship-tracking data, Bloomberg found that "dozens of Russian and Iranian vessels" are already trading in the route with tens of billions of dollars being invested to boost trading volumes. The goal is to circumvent sanctions by "creating trade networks protected from interdiction."
The U.K. on Dec. 20 added a "new licensing ground related to medical goods" to the licensing grounds for exports of Russia's vulnerable goods, the Export Control Joint Unit announced. Under the Russian sanctions regime, interested parties must now apply for a license with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation to export medical goods to Russia.
The European Commission this week proposed a revised regulation that it said would clarify labeling and packaging rules for certain chemicals sold or bought online by manufacturers, importers or other “downstream users.” The new rule, which would target shipments of “endocrine disruptors and other harmful chemical substances," would require buyers and sellers to follow certain labeling rules after determining “whether a substance or mixture displays properties that should lead to their hazard classification,” the commission said.
The European Commission recently posted presentations from its annual export control forum earlier this month. Industry and government officials used the forum to discuss a range of export control updates and ways to expand restrictions against Russia, spoke about the need to remove outdated emerging technology export restrictions that are no longer effective and more (see 2212070053, 2212070041 and 2212090026).
A negotiating mandate from the European Council was agreed to on Dec. 20 by "EU member states' ambassadors" over the revised Generalized Scheme of Preferences regulation, which gives trade preferences to developing countries, the council announced. The new GSP largely upholds the "main features of the current system, but includes some improvements," including "stronger links" for human rights and the environment and improved monitoring and transparency of the scheme. A new link will be established between the trade preferences given to a country and their "cooperation on migration and the readmission of own nationals illegally present in the EU," the council said.
The U.K. this week amended one entry under its Belarus sanctions regime. The listing for Mikail Safarbekovich Gutseriev was updated to include revised and new identifying information, including the spelling of his name, his nationality and the reasoning for his listing.
The EU added 141 people and 49 entities to its Russia sanctions regime as part of its ninth package of restrictions following Moscow's war in Ukraine, the European Council announced.