Switzerland added two individuals to its Russian sanctions list following their addition to the EU's sanctions regime, the Swiss Federal Council announced: Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych and his son, Oleksandr Viktorovych Yanukovych. The council said Viktor Yanukovych was a party to a scheme where Yanukovych would have replaced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, while Oleksandr Yanukovych has carried out transactions with separatist groups based in Ukraine's Donbas region. The council also amended the entry for Sergey Yurevich Kuzovlev.

The U.K. and Qatar during the third U.K.-Qatar Joint Economic and Trade Committee Aug. 24 announced two new memorandums of understanding to boost trade and investment between the two nations, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said. The MOUs include a new deal between DIT and Qatar's Investment Promotion Agency to help British businesses enter the Qatari market. The agreement will give information to companies on "strategic investment opportunities," and open the U.K. export market to vitamins and supplements. It allows Holland & Barrett to ship these goods to Qatar, the DIT said.

The U.K. and Ukraine announced that talks on a new digital trade agreement began during an Aug. 23 meeting between British Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko. The agreement will seek to drop barriers to digital trade in a bid to boost Ukrainian jobs following the invasion of Russia, the Department for International Trade said Aug. 24. The announcement follows the U.K.'s decision to eliminate tariffs on all goods from Ukraine.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments on Russia's implementation of its World Trade Organization obligations, so it can prepare its annual report to Congress on the subject. Written comments and requests to testify at a virtual public hearing are due by Sept. 21 at 11:59 p.m. EDT; the virtual hearing will be held Oct. 4 at 9 a.m. EDT. Comments can be submitted via http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2022-0011.

The U.K. published a General License Aug. 22 under its Russia sanctions regime permitting crown servants and contractors, and their family members or visiting family members, to "carry out activities in their personal capacity in Russia which would otherwise be prohibited," under the Russian restrictions. Where visiting family members -- the spouse, civil partner, parent, sibling or child of a crown servant or contractor -- are concerned, the license extends only to activities that stem from their being in Russia to visit the household of a crown servant or contractor. The license took effect Aug. 19.

The U.K. this week announced provisional antidumping measures on certain aluminum extrusion imports from China. The measures, which took effect Aug. 17, will require U.K. exporters to obtain a bank guarantee, bond or cash before they can import the items, which include bars, rods, profiles, tubes and various pipes. The notice includes information on import rates for the items and goods that are excluded from the measures.

The U.K. announced this week it’s mandating the use of Economic Operator Registration Identification (EORI) numbers within SPIRE, the country’s export licensing system. The EORI number, which is a “unique reference identifying a business” issued by the U.K.’s customs authority, must be included on an exporter’s declaration to move goods into or out of the U.K., the country said. An exporter’s EORI will be used to match an export declaration with an export license, so “it is essential that the correct EORI number is provided on SPIRE to prevent any delays for your goods at the border,” the U.K. said. The notice includes instructions for listing EORI numbers on applications.

The U.K. this week launched its new Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), which it said will “go further” than the EU’s Generalized Scheme of Preferences by cutting tariffs on hundreds of additional products exported from developing countries. DCTS will allow a “wide variety” of goods, including clothes and foods that aren’t widely produced in the U.K., such as olive oil and tomatoes, to benefit from reduced or zero tariffs, the country said. The U.K. said the new scheme will allow British companies to see £750 million per year, or about $900 million, in “reduced import costs.” The DCTS, which also will simplify “complex” trade rules such as rules of origin, covers 65 countries across Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas.

USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service this week released a report on new U.K. labeling requirements for food imports, including trends that could soon lead to new requirements for U.S. food exports. The agency said several “labeling trends” are followed by U.K. manufacturers and are “steadily becoming more commonplace in UK stores, and expected by consumers.” USDA said the U.K. soon plans to open consultations on labeling for livestock method of production, packaging recyclability, environmental footprint of production, and health metrics,” and any changes to its labeling law will have a “long transition period.”

The U.K.’s Department for International Trade released a report on the country’s defense exports, including an assessment of their trade value, a breakdown of the exports by destination and a comparison with other G-7 economies.