Zhenyu Wang and Daniel Lane, both Texas residents, were convicted on Nov. 15 of attempting to skirt U.S. sanctions on Iran in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, DOJ announced. DOJ said they both tried to "transact in sanctioned Iranian petroleum and launder the proceeds" and were convicted of attempting to violate IEEPA, conspiracy to violate IEEPA, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The U.S. interpretation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade's Article XXI(b) -- which governs trade moves made for national security -- as being wholly self-judging "is unsupported by the text, context, object and purpose, and negotiating history" of the article, four Akin Gump lawyers said in a working paper under the auspices of the Geneva Graduate Institute Centre for Trade and Economic Integration.
World Trade Organization committees could offer a path beyond the Dispute Settlement Body to settle trade-related issues, Baker McKenzie lawyers said in a Nov. 13 blog post. For instance, the Anti-Dumping Practices and Subsidies and Countervailing Measures committees offer a forum to settle "practical and strategic issues" faced by companies engaged in international trade, the post said.
The EU's Directorate-General for Trade launched a new tool, dubbed the "Access2Conformity," which will let EU exporters take better advantage of Mutual Recognition Agreements with third countries. The tool will let EU exporters "identify where in the EU they can perform product testing and certification when exporting to certain third countries," the bloc said Nov. 13. The trade directorate highlighted the fact that MRAs can allow an exporting member state to designate their own conformity assessment body as "capable of testing and certifying exported products to make sure that they comply with the rules and regulations of the importing trade partner."
The European Council on Nov. 13 renewed its sanctions on Venezuela for another six months, setting them up to now expire on May 14, 2024. The sanctions include an embargo on arms and equipment for internal repression along with an asset freeze on 54 people.
The EU General Court on Nov. 8 rejected a Russian CEO's application to annul his sanctions designation. The court said the European Council properly laid out a statement of reasons for the sanctions decision, adding that the council "adduced a set of sufficiently specific, precise and consistent indicia capable of demonstrating" that Dmitry Mazepin "is a leading businessperson involved in a sector providing a substantial source of revenue to the Russian Government."
The EU General Court on Nov. 8 rejected Mikalai Varabei's application to annul his sanctions listing under the EU's Belarus sanctions regime. Varabei was challenging the European Council's finding that his activities in various Belarussian economic sectors show that he benefits from President Aleksandr Lukashenko's regime.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas temporarily halted administrative proceedings concerning SpaceX's export control-related hiring practices, in a Nov. 8 order. Granting the space exploration company's motion for a preliminary injunction in part and denying it in part, Judge Rolando Olvera said SpaceX is likely to succeed on its claim that a law making it illegal to discriminate based on citizenship status in hiring decisions, 8 U.S.C. 1324b, violates the Appointments Clause under the U.S. Constitution (Space Exploration Technologies v. Carol Bell, S.D. Tex. # 23-00137).
The U.K. added 29 entries to the Russia sanctions regime Nov. 8, targeting Russian gold refiners and producers as well as international networks supporting the country's gold, oil, finance and defense sectors. The country's National Crime Agency also issued a new alert to make financial institutions aware of how Russia is using gold to evade sanctions.
The World Trade Organization said its working group on food security is aiming for the end of November to reach consensus on a final set of recommendations for least-developed countries (LDCs) and net food-importing developing countries (NFIDCs). During the working group's Oct. 31 meeting, participating members revised a report from the group's coordinator, Norway's Kjetil Tysdal, which covers four areas: "access to international food markets, financing of food imports, agricultural and production resilience of LDCs and NFIDCs, and horizontal, cross-cutting issues," the WTO said. Tysdal said he will make further revisions in the "coming days," noting the final meeting is set for Nov. 13, when the group is expected to finalize its recommendations for the full Committee on Agriculture's approval. The committee will meet Nov. 27-29.