The European Commission conducted its 13th negotiation session with five eastern and southern African nations to expand the existing economic partnership agreement, the Directorate-General for Trade announced. The nations are Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe. The commission released a report detailing the negotiations, which took place in Comoros March 18-22 and "included discussions at technical level on all open thematic parts covered by these negotiations." The chapters on fisheries and technical barriers to trade were provisionally concluded, while three more chapters -- customs and trade facilitation, competition, and transparency in public procurement -- were quasi-concluded as "compromise proposals were exchanged," the commission said.

The Council of the EU on March 12 extended the sanctions regime for those that threaten the sovereignty of Ukraine for another six months, until Sept. 15. The sanctions apply to over 2,100 individuals and entities.

Switzerland on April 10 adopted the EU's sanctions listing of six individuals who support Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Federal Council announced. Switzerland also adopted the EU's Guatemala listing of five individuals and its Sudan designations of six entities. The council said the new measures "contain exceptions for humanitarian activities." They entered into force on April 10.

The European Commission on April 10 released an updated report on "significant state-induced distortions" in China's economy, the Directorate-General for Trade announced. The report will allow EU industry to "use the most up-to-date information on the Chinese economy and on specific circumstances of the market" when filing antidumping petitions.

The U.K. on April 10 updated its guidance on export controls covering military goods, software and technology by adding language to the section concerning disclosures and violations. The section stresses the importance of voluntary disclosures, and if an "irregularity" is found during a compliance audit carried out by the government, the "compliance inspector will have informed" the country's revenue and customs agency, "and you are strongly advised to do the same.

The EU is launching an investigation on Chinese government subsidies awarded to suppliers of wind turbines destined for Europe, European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said April 9. She said the probe will focus on the “conditions for the development of wind parks in Spain, Greece, France, Romania and Bulgaria.

The Council of the EU on April 8 formally approved a provisional deal reached between the council's presidency and the European Parliament to "renew the suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian exports" to the bloc until June 5, 2025, the council announced (see 2403200028). The regulation next must be confirmed by the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade and the European Council prior to entering into force June 6.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sanctioned seven people and 86 entities, according to an unofficial translation of a notice released April 4. The notice said the parties were being sanctioned to "support proposals made by the Security Service of Ukraine," and added that the country's foreign affairs ministry should "inform the competent authorities of the European Union, the United States of America and other countries about the application of sanctions and raise the issue of introducing similar restrictive measures before them."

The U.K. High Court of Justice last week said it has jurisdiction to hear a nearly $10 billion dispute between Russian aircraft companies and the owners, lessors and financing banks of those aircraft leased to Russia.

The European Commission on April 2 updated 19 of its Russia sanctions FAQs related to services for the Russian government and entities.