The World Trade Organization on Sept. 15 released a new publication covering export controls. The report looks at "how WTO members have used different international agreements" beyond the trade body as grounds to set export regulations to support initiatives in "environmental protection, hazardous waste management, weapons control and combating illegal drugs trade."
The EU General Court's Grand Chamber on Sept. 13 rejected the Venezuelan government's challenge of the EU's Venezuela sanctions regime. The court said the European Council "relied on credible and reliable information" to assess the situation in Venezuela, which included "brutal repression" by the government. The court also said Venezuelan reports showing its government prosecuted these human rights abuses weren't enough to reveal a "manifest error" in the council's decision. The sanctions regime itself didn't violate international law, the court added, nor was it an illegal countermeasure because the sanctions weren't meant to be a reaction to an "internationally wrongful act imputable" to the Venezuelan government.
The EU added another four people and six entities to its Iran sanctions regime for "serious human rights violations in Iran," the European Council announced. The sanctions package was issued to mark the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini -- who was arrested for not wearing a hijab -- in the custody of the country’s Morality Police last year. The sanctions were coordinated with the U.S. (see 2309150023).
The EU will open a countervailing duty investigation on electric vehicles from China, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during her 2023 state of the union address to the European Parliament. The bloc "must defend" itself "against unfair practices," including Chinese state subsidies that keep its electric vehicles at artificially low prices, von der Leyen said. She also clarified that the EU's policy is one of "de-risk" and not decoupling, insisting that open lines of communication will remain open with Chinese leadership.
The EU updated a FAQ under its Russia sanctions regime covering whether Russian nationals may temporarily bring personal goods and vehicles, set out in Annex XXI, into the EU for touristic reasons. The FAQ was originally published last week, in which the bloc said no, noting that its regulations bar the purchase, import or transfer of goods in this annex if they originate in Russia or are exported from Russia (see 2309110018).
India updated its export policy for vegetable saps and extracts and food preparations not elsewhere specified or included in the ITS Harmonized System code. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade said the export of food supplements with botanicals under HS codes 1302 and 2106 meant for human or animal consumption to the EU and the U.K. will "require issuance of official certificate" from the Shellac and Forest Products Export Promotion Council. The agency is allowed to issue a certificate for a period of three months.
The U.S. should push World Trade Organization members to "revisit what constitutes good and bad subsidies," which may help encourage transparency and improve "enforcement through incentives for compliance and penalties for noncompliance," the Council on Foreign Relations said in a new report.
The World Trade Organization touted new evidence of how "more inclusive [economic] integration" can benefit the friction points of security interests, inclusiveness and environmental policies in the face of early signs of global trade fragmentation. In its World Trade Report 2023, released Sept. 12, the WTO focuses on globalization and how, despite current challenges, international trade is thriving and stands as a solution to many global issues.
New Hampshire-headquartered NuDay, also known as NuDay Syria, pleaded guilty to three counts of failure to file electronic export information, DOJ announced Sept. 8. From 2018 to 2021, the organization, founded as a nonprofit charity, completed over 100 shipments to Syria but falsely reported the goods would be delivered to Turkey and "artificially deflated" the value of the goods below the $2,500 EEI reporting threshold.
DOJ last week announced its "first-ever criminal resolution" involving a company that violated sanctions by facilitating the sale and transport of Iranian oil. The agency said the cargo -- more than 980,000 barrels of Iranian oil that was allegedly shipped by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps -- is now the subject of a civil forfeiture action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The forfeiture complaint alleges the oil is "subject to forfeiture based on U.S. terrorism and money laundering statutes," DOJ said Sept. 8.