The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation imposed two general licenses under its Russia sanctions regime. The Securing Energy for Europe license lets an individual or entity grant a category five loan or enter into an arrangement to grant this loan to Gazprom Germania or any of its subsidiaries. These loans can be issued for over-the-counter gas trading, payments of credit arrangements and invoices by Gazprom or any of its subsidiaries, customer credit arrangements, the provision of clearing services to Gazprom or any of its subsidiaries, payment between Gazprom or any of its subsidiaries, or the provision of financing for letters of credit. The license will run 11:59 p.m. Oct. 28 to 11:59 p.m. Oct. 29, 2023. The Loans and Securities amendment, which runs 11:59 p.m. Oct. 28 to 11:59 p.m. Nov. 5, permits an individual or entity to directly or indirectly enter into an arrangement to grant a category five loan, though it does not permit activity that would otherwise be permitted under the Securing Energy for Europe license.

China banned the import of poultry and related products directly or indirectly from Portugal due to a recent outbreak of avian influenza, the General Administration of Customs announced Oct. 27, according to an unofficial translation. Portugal reported to the World Organization for Animal Health that it witnessed an epidemic of H5N1 across its poultry farms. As a result, China ordered that all poultry and related goods from Portugal shipped from Oct. 27 be returned or destroyed and that poultry shipped before the announcement be strictly quarantined.

A group of European countries not in the EU aligned themselves with recent EU sanctions moves under the restrictions regimes pertaining to Ukraine and those threatening the sovereignty of Ukraine, the European Council announced Oct. 26. On Oct. 20, the council added three Iranian individuals and one entity to the Ukraine sanctions regime for supplying the Russian army with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway also implemented the decision, the council said.

Updates to the U.K.'s list of defense-related goods to reflect changes to the Wassenaar Arrangement munitions list will enter into force Nov. 3. The order also implements changes to the European Common Military List "in accordance with the UK's commitments under the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland in the European Union withdrawal agreement," the Department for International Trade said.

The World Uyghur Congress and the Global Legal Action Network launched a case at the High Court in London accusing U.K. government agencies of breaking the law by not investigating the importation of cotton products made by forced labor in China's Xinjiang region. The court heard a trial on Oct. 25 in which the WUC challenged the British home secretary, HM Revenue and Customs and the National Crime Agency for refusing to investigate goods allegedly made by forced labor of the Uyghur Muslim minority in the region, The Guardian reported.

The U.K.'s overseas territories have frozen Russian assets worth over an estimated $9 billion, including $8.4 billion by the Cayman Islands and over $400 million by the British Virgin Islands, the British government said Oct. 26. Releasing its response to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee June 2022 report, "The cost of complacency: illicit finance and the war in Ukraine," the government also said crown dependencies have frozen assets worth over $1.15 billion, including nearly $2.2 million by the Isle of Man and nearly $5.8 million by Guernsey.

The Paris Court of Appeals ordered the French government to release an impounded yacht owned by EU-sanctioned Russian billionaire Alexey Kuzmichev due to procedural errors made during the vessel's seizure, according to an unofficial translation. Kuzmichev is one of the main shareholders of Russia's Alfa Bank. French customs seized the yacht, called La Petite Ourse, in March following Kuzmichev's addition to the sanctions list. The yacht was moored in Antibes. The French court said the customs agents did not follow correct procedure when searching the vessel, incorrectly relying on an authority that permitted a search in connection with suspected fraud.

The EU released updated guidance on the provision of business services under its Russia sanctions regime, adding an overview table of the EU restrictions on services. The European Commission added five questions to its FAQs about business services, covering how the sectoral scope for IT consultancy services is defined, whether the measures on IT consultancy services hamper the conditions of civil society organization in Russia, which software updates are exempted from the ban on IT consultancy services, what activities are covered on the architectural and engineering services ban and what activities are covered by the ban on legal advisory services.

The EU dropped three individuals from its Burundi sanctions list while extending the list for another year, the European Council announced Oct. 25. Chief Police Commissioner Godefroid Bizimana, Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca and Leonard Ngendakumana, a former army general, were removed from the sanctions regime, leaving only Joseph Niyonzima, a National Intelligence Service officer, subject to the restrictions. The council cited the advancements made by Burundi in the areas of "human rights, good governance and rule of law" but still expressed concern over certain challenges in these areas. The Burundi sanctions regime was extended until Oct. 31, 2023.

The U.K.'s Trade Remedies Authority suspended antidumping duties imposed on imports of bicycles and bike parts from China, including bicycles consigned from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Tunisia, imported by the Martlet Group, the Department for International Trade announced Oct. 24. The suspension runs from the date the notice was published and covers bicycle parts, including brake levers, coaster braking hubs, crank-gears, frames, handlebars and hub brakes.