The U.K. HM Revenue & Customs announced on March 18 that businesses have until June 4 to move their export declarations to the new Customs Declaration Service platform from the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight service. After June 4, declarations no longer can be submitted via the old service. The British customs office said that the Customs Declaration Service, which has been running since 2018 for import declarations, is "more user-friendly" and has "greater functionality."
A lawsuit between the trustee of a Russian businessman and his "long term" partner will go to trial after the U.K. High Court of Justice on March 13 declined to dismiss their defense, setting up a case that could shed light on the role sanctioned parties play in property disputes.
Australia, Japan and Singapore believe a second version of a text on e-commerce reforms "could pave the way for the conclusion of the agreement by the summer," the World Trade Organization said in a press release last week.
The U.K. soon will update export controls on various military and dual-use technologies, which will align the country's rules with changes recently made by the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement, the Australia Group, the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Missile Technology Control Regime. The U.K. also will introduce new controls on "specific emerging technologies" that it has "committed to implement" alongside other "like-minded countries," the Department for Business and Trade said March 12.
Sai Keung Tin, a Chinese national, was indicted March 8 on four counts of illegally exporting eastern box turtles, a "protected wildlife species," from the U.S. to China for the "global pet trade black market," DOJ announced. Tin faces a maximum 10-year prison stint for each smuggling count.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on March 12 affirmed a federal D.C. court's dismissal of Venezuelan national Samark Jose Lopez Bello's suit against his designation as a narcotics trafficker under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Samark Jose Lopez Bello v. Andrea M. Gacki, D.C. Cir. # 21-01727).
The U.S. told the World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards about the start of its safeguard investigation on fine denier polyester staple fiber, the WTO announced this week. The U.S. opened the investigation on Feb. 28, telling parties that wish to participate to file an entry of appearance with the secretary to the International Trade Commission no later "than 21 days after publication of the notice of institution in the Federal Register."
The German Federal Prosecutor's Office filed charges last month against a German national and a Russian national for illicitly exporting drone parts to Russia, the office announced March 5, according to an unofficial translation.
U.S. Army solider and intelligence analyst Korbein Schultz was arrested March 7 on charges of exporting defense-related technical data without a license and conspiracy to export defense articles, DOJ announced. A federal grand jury also indicted him on a charge of conspiracy to obtain national defense information and bribery of a public official.
The European General Court in a pair of decisions on March 6 rejected challenges to the EU's restrictions on wood and iron and steel products from Belarus. The court, in virtually identical opinions, rejected a trio of claims from Belarusian wood company AAT Mostovdrev and iron and steel company AAT Byelorussian Steel Works challenging the European Council's reasons for imposing the restrictions and infringement of the right to "effective judicial protection," alleged failure to observe the "principle of equal treatment," and imposition of measures disproportionately affecting the wood and iron and steel industries.