European countries not in the EU aligned with two recent EU sanctions moves concerning Iran and human rights abuses, the Council of the EU announced.
Jacob Kopnick
Jacob Kopnick, Associate Editor, is a reporter for Trade Law Daily and its sister publications Export Compliance Daily and International Trade Today. He joined the Warren Communications News team in early 2021 covering a wide range of topics including trade-related court cases and export issues in Europe and Asia. Jacob's background is in trade policy, having spent time with both CSIS and USTR researching international trade and its complexities. Jacob is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Public Policy.
The Dutch Supreme Court on April 24 said it will refer two preliminary questions to the European Court of Justice concerning the effect of EU Russia sanctions on sanctioned parties' shareholder voting rights, according to an unofficial translation.
Japan opened an antidumping duty investigation on graphite electrodes from China, the ministries of Finance and Economy, Trade and Industry announced, according to an unofficial translation. The ministries decided to conduct the joint investigation following a petition from Japanese companies SEC Carbon, Tokai Carbon Co. and Nippon Carbon Co. The investigation will take one year and will allow for interested parties to comment on the proceeding.
The European Commission on April 24 opened the first investigation under its International Procurement Instrument in response to practices in the Chinese procurement market for medical devices which allegedly "discriminate unfairly against European companies and products," the commission said.
The former comptroller general of Ecuador, Carlos Ramon Polit Faggioni, was convicted on April 23 for his part in an international bribery and money laundering scheme, DOJ announced.
The European Parliament on April 23 issued the final approval to new regulations banning the "sale, import, and export of goods made" with forced labor (see 2403050035), the Parliament announced. The European Commission, along with member state authorities, will be able investigate "suspicious goods, supply chains, and manufactures" to find if forced labor exists in a good's supply chain.
DOJ charged 10 individuals with conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela by shipping aircraft parts to service the company's fleet in Venezuela.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on April 19 partially dismissed a lawsuit from sanctioned individuals Mir Rahman Rahmani and Hafi Ajmal Rahmani and over two dozen of their companies challenging their sanctions listing for their alleged role in a corruption scheme that swiped millions of dollars from U.S. contracts in Afghanistan (Mir Rahman Rahmani v. Janet Yellen, D.D.C. # 24-00285).
Turkey's Ambassador Alparslan Acarsoy, chair of the World Trade Organization's agriculture negotiations, said "fresh thinking" is needed to end the stagnation in current agriculture talks, the WTO said. Addressing the participating members of the ag negotiating body during the first meeting since the 13th Ministerial Conference, Acarsoy urged members not to ditch "past efforts" despite the disappointment felt after a deal was not struck at MC13.
A World Trade Organization dispute panel issued its report on Australia's dispute against Chinese antidumping and countervailing duties on Australian wine after the parties reached a mutually agreed solution to the case. Australia argued that China's AD/CVD violated numerous elements of both the Anti-Dumping Agreement and the Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Agreement. The parties told the dispute settlement body that they reached a settlement on March 29.