The European Union is hailing the completion of a mutual recognition agreement -- in the works for five years -- that the Food and Drug Administration can rely on European inspections of their drugmakers, and vice versa. The July 11 press release framed it as one of the significant goals sought by EU President Jean-Paul Juncker and President Donald Trump when they declared in July 2018 an intention to work toward trade talks and regulatory harmonization.

The United Kingdom updated three of its sanctions guides, the U.K. said in a series of July 10 press releases. The U.K. updated its guides on financial sanctions, terrorism-related sanctions and Venezuela sanctions.

The European Commission adopted regulations on July 8 that provide a “single list” that contains contact details “of all Member States’ competent authorities that deal with sanctions” and “the EU Commission’s address for notifications,” according to a post on the EU Sanctions blog. The regulations aim to “harmonize and update the contact details” of the sanctions authorities for EU nations, the regulations say.

In the July 8 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

A “substantial number” of industry associations asked the European Commission to better standardize certifications and other procedures related to trade between the European Union and the U.S. to lessen complexities, according to a July 9 report from the commission.

In the July 5 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

Norway’s Ministry of Finance proposed the elimination of value-added tax exemptions on imports of “low value goods,” Norway said in a notice. Among several changes, the ministry plans to impose a 25 percent VAT on foreign sellers and “online marketplaces” for all goods, except food, valued under about $350, KPMG said in a July 3 report. The proposal would also create a “simplified system” for foreign sellers to register, declare and pay VATs on their exports to Norway, the ministry said. If implemented, the changes would take effect Jan. 1, 2020.

In the July 3 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The United Kingdom made several technical changes to its Export Control Order of 2008, the U.K.’s Department for International Trade said in a June 30 press release. Among the changes, the U.K. is updating its list of defense-related products to correspond with changes made to the European Common Military List, the press release said.

The EU plans to extend its antidumping and countervailing duty collections to the continental shelf and exclusive economic zones of the member states, the European Commission said in a July 3 news release. "Until now, EU customs rules only allowed trade defence measures to be applied to goods imported into the customs territory of the Union," it said. "The rules did not apply to goods brought to the continental shelf or exclusive economic zones of EU Member States, for instance for the exploitation of natural resources such as extraction of oil and gas and off-shore windmills." The new regulations are aligned with major EU trading partners, including the U.S., India and Brazil, it said. Exclusive economic zones are sea zones "over which a state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources" and can be beyond a state's territorial waters, it said. The continental shelf is "the shelf extending from the coastline of the state to a drop-off point in the ocean," the EC said. The EU member states will have four months to "put in place the necessary administrative procedures," the EC said.