The European Council on Jan. 3 added Russian-owned diamond mining firm PJSC Alrosa and its CEO Pavel Alekseevich Marinychev to the Russia sanctions list, the council announced. The company is responsible for over 90% of all Russian diamond production, the council said, adding that the designations "complement" the import ban on Russian diamonds adopted Dec. 18 (see 2312180070).
British cheese makers looking to export to their products to Canada now must check that their Canadian importer has access to an import license for "non-EU sources," the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said. As of Jan. 1, the U.K. moved from Canada's tariff-rate quota for EU member states to non-EU sources as part of a 2021 trade continuity agreement between the two nations. As a result, U.K. cheese exporters that don't have an importer with a license for non-EU sources will be subject to the full tariffs on cheese.
The U.K. on Dec. 28 updated its Haiti sanctions guidance to reflect the October renewal by the U.N. Security Council of an arms embargo against the country (see 2310240072). The U.K. said under certain cases it may grant certain export licenses for weapons shipments to Haiti, or licenses for a U.N. or U.N.-authorized mission to the country that is intended to “further the objectives of peace and stability in Haiti.”
U.K. exports of chocolate, gin, whiskey, sparkling wine and other “festive treats” increased “significantly” last year after the country’s signing in July of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (see 2307170023), the Department for Business and Trade said Dec. 28. The agency said those goods are being “ordered en masse” by CPTPP countries, especially Singapore, Japan, Mexico and Malaysia. Exports of Scotch whiskey to Singapore have risen by 31% and to Malaysia by 43%, the U.K. said, while sparkling wine exports to Japan have increased by 140%