The six co-cordinators of the World Trade Organization's Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade outlined several "trade-related actions" countries should take to address the environmental, health and economic impacts of plastics pollution, the WTO announced Feb. 27. The co-coordinators -- Australia, Barbados, China, Ecuador, Fiji and Morocco -- released the text as part of the 13th Ministerial Conference.
Eight more World Trade Organization members accepted the fisheries subsidies agreement at the start of the 13th Ministerial Conference this week, the WTO said. Sixty-nine members have so far accepted the deal and 40 more are needed for ratification; the WTO said one more member is expected to accept the deal during MC13. The newest countries to adopt the agreement are Brunei, Chad, Malaysia, Norway, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Togo and Turkey. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said negotiations also are ongoing on a second fisheries deal, adding that passing both agreements would "really put WTO members at the forefront of action on sustainability of our oceans and would safeguard the livelihoods of the 260 million people who depend on these oceans."
The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 26 said it won't review whether whistleblower Brutus Trading should've been granted a hearing by a lower court in its case accusing U.K.-based Standard Chartered Bank of violating sanctions against Iran.
The U.K. corrected or amended one entry each under its sanctions regimes covering Russia, ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated the listings for Ilya Borisovich Brodskiy, 'Abd Al-Rahman Muhammad Mustafa Al-Qaduli, Willy Ngoma and Konstantin Aleksendrovitch Pikalov, respectively.
The EU announced its 13th sanctions package on Russia last week to mark two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, imposing designations against another 194 people and companies while expanding the list of advanced technology items that Russia is seeking for its defense and technology sectors.
DOJ last week announced a guilty plea and indictments as part of a scheme by Russians to illegally use U.S.-based companies to transfer and launder money.
Alexis Early, former partner at King & Spalding, has joined Jenner & Block as a partner in the Washington-based national security and crisis practice. Early's practice focuses on sanctions, trade and export controls, anti-money laundering, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and more, the firm said.
Haiti formally accepted the agreement on fisheries subsidies Feb. 21, the World Trade Organization announced. Sixty-one member countries have now accepted the deal, which is 55% of the way to the two-thirds threshold of members needed for the agreement to enter into force at the WTO.
The U.K. added 50 entries to its Russia sanctions regime and two entries to its Belarus regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced in a pair of notices this week.
Anden Chow, former assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has joined litigation boutique MoloLamken as a partner in New York, the firm announced. Chow worked as an assistant U.S. Attorney for a decade, most recently working on prosecutions into "international financial crime," including "sanctions evasion, asset forfeiture, money laundering, cryptocurrency-related fraud, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations," the firm said.