Amazon is “committed to ensuring” its products “are produced in a way that respects human rights,” a company spokesperson said April 25 in response to a complaint submitted this week under Germany’s new supply chain law. “We engage with suppliers that are committed to these same principles and have clear requirements outlined for suppliers in our Supply Chain Standards,” the spokesperson emailed.

The EU General Court tossed an application for an injunction on sanctions against the former director of African Gold Refinery Ltd., registered in Uganda, under the EU's Democratic Republic of the Congo sanctions list, according to an unofficial translation. The court ruled the unnamed applicant failed to establish the condition relating to the urgent need for the injunction.

The EU Court of Justice tossed an appeal from the European Council seeking to reverse a General Court ruling that annulled sanctions on Aisha Muammer Mohamed El-Gadhafi, the daughter of Moammar Gadhafi, under the Libya sanctions regime. The court ruled that the council did not sufficiently support its claim that annulling the sanctions decisions would cause serious and irreversible harm to the effectiveness of the sanctions. Merely alleging that El-Gadhafi might move to prevent fund-freezing measures from being applied was not enough, the court said.

The U.K. added four entries to its Iran (Human Rights) sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. The four people are Mohammad Nazar Azimi, Ahmad Kadem, Mohsen Karimi and Habib Shahsavari, all officers in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The European Parliament last week approved legislation that could allow the EU to better trace certain transfers of crypto-assets and block “suspicious transactions.” The legislation, which must be endorsed by the European Council before becoming law, “will make it more difficult for criminals, terrorists and sanctions evaders to misuse crypto assets,” Parliament member Assita Kanko, of Belgium, said.

The EU made new sanctions listings under three regimes, the European Council announced. Under the anti-terrorism list, the council added two individuals and one group linked to ISIL operating in the Cabo Delgado region in Mozambique. The group is ISIS-Mozambique and the two individuals are Abu Yasir Hassan and Bonomade Mahcude Omar, who hold leadership positions in the group.

Two non-governmental organizations and a trade group filed the first complaint under Germany’s new supply chain law this week, saying Amazon, Ikea and Tom Tailor aren’t meeting certain human rights due diligence requirements. The complaint, filed by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, FEMNET and the National Garment Workers Federation, said Bangladeshi garment factories for the three companies “have not been adequately monitored, endangering workplace safety for employees.”

The U.K. added three names to its Russia sanctions list on April 21. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said Russian government officials Andrey Zadachin, Denis Kolesnikov and Elena Lenskaya were all involved in the "politically motivated case" against Russian journalist and activist Vladimir Kara-Murza. The U.S. issued similar sanctions in March (see 2303030021).

The European Commission recently wrapped up the 11th negotiation round with five eastern and southern African states on an economic partnership agreement. The commission declared that "good progress" was achieved on the legal texts of Intellectual Property Rights; Trade in Services, Investment Liberalisation and Digital Trade; Competition; Transparency in Public Procurement; and Dispute Settlement and Institutional Provisions. The parties need "further discussions" on the few issues related to Technical Barriers to Trade such as "conformity assessment and technical assistance," the commission said. The five African states involved in the discussions are Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe.

The U.K. Solicitors Regulation Authority said it needs various SRA-regulated firms to fill out an assessment on how they are ensuring they comply with British sanctions. All firms that have not previously submitted such information must fill out the assessment between May 2 and May 31. The SRA will contact Compliance Officers for Legal Practice or Authorized Signatories at the start of May with more instructions.