Talks continue on the accessuib of the U.K. to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Singapore's trade minister, Gan Kim Yong, said during a CPTPP meeting, Bloomberg reported Oct. 8. The U.K. is the first country outside the original 11 members to request to join the group and the first in Europe. Members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Japanese Finance Minister Daishiro Yamagiwa said there is no fixed timeline to carry out the process of admitting the U.K. to the group.

A shipment of lamb from the U.K. was exported to the U.S. for the first time in over 20 years, Britain's Department for International Trade said. In 2021, USDA agreed to allow British lamb to enter the American market, given that the needed inspections were carried out. This week, a shipment of lamb from meat processors Dunbia in Wales was flown to the U.S.

The U.K. on Oct. 6 amended a Russia-related General License covering "basic needs, routine holding and maintenance and the payment of legal fees," the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said. The amendment alters the license to "allow any payments in connection with the Insolvency Proceedings of VTB Capital plc and its UK subsidiaries."

The European Commission updated its FAQs on the import, purchase and transfer of listed goods related to certain energy-related products to third countries from Russia. The commission said that only some goods shall be allowed to be transferred to third countries to ensure energy security goods, and these include energy products falling under CN codes 4401 (fuel wood) and 4402 (charcoal) and all the items listed in Annex XXII (coal and related products). EU sanctions will not target the trade in agricultural and food products, including wheat and fertilizers, between Russia and third countries, the FAQs said.

The EU Parliament Oct. 6 called for the EU to impose sanctions on Iranian officials following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini and the subsequent violence committed against protesters after her death. Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman, was killed while in custody of Iran's "morality police" after violating the country's strict veiling laws. She died in a Tehran hospital three days after suffering injuries from physical abuse while in custody. "The EU must sanction Iranian officials involved in the regime’s repression," the parliament said. The U.S. and Canada have already designated individuals and entities linked to Amini's death and the later human rights violations committed following her passing (see 2209220029).

After the EU agreed to its eighth sanctions package on Russia over its war in Ukraine (see 2210050053), Russia said the restrictions would come with consequences and could lead to a temporary cut in the country's production of oil. The sanctions package includes a price cap on Russian oil. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, speaking to Bloomberg TV, said Russia won't sell oil to any countries to impose a price cap, Bloomberg reported Oct. 5.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation in an Oct. 5 notice added an entry to its Yemen sanctions regime. OFSI added Ahmad al-Hamzi, major general and commander of the Houthi Air Force and Air Defense Forces, to the sanctions list.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Sept. 30 updated its Libya sanctions guidance. The updated page includes amended sections on full and partial asset freezes, the Libyan Investment Authority and Libya Africa Investment Portfolio and ownership and ownership and control. Further, the revised guidance includes a new section on exceptions and licenses. Such exceptions include not requiring a party to obtain a license for a relevant institution crediting a frozen account with interest due on the account, for a relevant institution crediting a frozen account where it gets funds transferred to that institution for crediting to the account and when funds are transferred to a relevant institution for crediting to an account held by a designated party in discharge of an obligation that came up before the party was designated.

The U.K. imposed new sanctions pertaining to Russia's escalation of the conflict in Ukraine by annexing the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhiz, the government announced Sept. 30. The new restrictions include bans on export of services and the designation of Elvira Nabiullina, the governor of the Central Bank. The U.K. said Nabiullina "has been instrumental in steering the Russian economy" through the invasion of Ukraine by extending the ruble into Ukrainian lands occupied by Russia.

The U.K. amended seven entries under its Russia sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in a Sept. 28 notice. The entries for Alexander Dmitrievich Kharichev, Denis Sergeevich Kurashov, Mikhail Valentinovich Kovalchuk, Iskander Kakhramonovich Makhmudov, Mikhail Leonidovich Rodikov, Oleksandr Saulenko and Andrey Veniaminovich Yarin were updated. The changes largely amounted to the spellings of the entries' names in Russian and dates of birth.