A few EU member states expressed their concern that new proposed guidance from the European Commission could weaken sanctions on Russia and allow countries to ship certain key Russian commodities including coal, globally. Several countries, including Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, criticized the guidance, Bloomberg reported Sept. 21. In a meeting with EU ministers, the concerned parties asked the commission to halt the document's publication until their issues were addressed.

The EU's trade defense measures in 2021 purportedly protected 462,000 EU jobs, the European Commission said in its annual report on the bloc's trade protection measures. Such action protected jobs in industries including aluminum, steel, ceramics and green technology, the EC said. The report said the commission ramped up its monitoring efforts to find entities that evade duties, particularly through circumvention. The commission also bolstered the assistance it gives to European exporters in addressing unfair trade protection measures imposed by third countries, the commission said.

The U.K., in a Sept. 16 notice, made a host of changes to its Russia sanctions regime listings. The Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation replaced Arkady Romanovich Rotenberg's entry with one that lists him as the previous chairman of the House of Prosvescheniye and previous owner of Stroygazmontazh. OFSI removed the entity Zao Interavtomatika (IA) from the consolidated list, and deleted two duplicates from the sanctions regime. The duplicate listings were for Leonid Eduardovich Slutsky and Vladimir Abdualievich Vasiliev. OFSI also amended 118 entries, still subjecting them to an asset freeze.

The U.K. amended one entry under its Libya sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in a Sept. 16 notice. The entry for Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, funder and former director of the Internet Research Agency and supporter of the Wagner Group, was changed to clarify the reasons for his listing.

Eight European countries not in the EU aligned themselves with the EU's recent decision to sanction three individuals responsible for threatening the sovereignty of Ukraine, the European Council said. The countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway also imposed the decision.

Germany seized the local unit of Russian oil giant Rosneft, Bloomberg reported. The move comes amid the German government's bid to take control of its energy industries and cut its energy dependence on Moscow. Germany is also in "advanced talks" to assume control of Uniper SE and two other large gas importers, Bloomberg said.

Switzerland added three individuals to its Russia sanctions regime, the Federal Department of Economic Affairs announced. The individuals are Alla Viktorovna Polyakova and Tkachev Anton Olegovich, members of the Russian State Duma, as well as Valery Andreevich Ponomarev, member of the Russian Federation Council, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said. The move follows the EU's adding of the three to its sanctions regime.

The EU's parliament is considering a proposal to ban goods made with forced labor from entering into commerce, as was reported before it was officially announced (see 2209120063). EU customs authorities will aim to stop products made with forced labor at EU borders. A FAQ about the proposal, which would have to pass both the parliament and the European Council, says the customs agents would take a "robust, risk-based enforcement approach. In a preliminary phase, they will assess forced labour risks based on many different sources of information that together should facilitate the identification of risks and help focus their efforts. These may include submissions from civil society, a database of forced labour risks focusing on specific products and geographic areas, and the due diligence that companies carry out."

The EU renewed until March 15 its individual sanctions on people and entities responsible for undermining the sovereignty of Ukraine, the European Council announced Sept. 14. The current restrictions amount to a travel ban, asset freeze and ban on making funds available to the listed parties, and apply to 1,206 individuals and 108 entities. Many of the listed parties were added to the restrictions regime for their roles in the Russian war in Ukraine.

The European Council adopted a measure to back the development and implementation of sanctions information technology tools until December 2024. The measure allocates the equivalent of nearly $450,000 to the effort and says the EU will support technology to supply information on EU information exchanges among the member states, stakeholders and the European Commission.