A group of European countries not in the EU aligned with the bloc's recent decision to extend the sanctions regime against individuals and entities related to the situation in Tunisia for another 12 months, the European Council announced last week. The restrictions are now set to lapse Jan. 31, 2024. The countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway also imposed the decision, the council said.

The EU renewed its "terrorist list," the sanctions regime that sets an asset freeze on individuals and entities "with a view to combatting terrorism," the European Council announced late last week. Sanctions currently apply to 13 individuals and 21 groups and entities on the list. The list is reviewed at least every six months.

The U.K. unfurled a new round of sanctions on Russia to mark the one-year anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced. The sanctions ban the export of "every item Ukraine has found Russia using on the battlefield to date" and place individual restrictions on another 92 individuals and entities. Sanctions target parties connected to state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom and Russian President Vladimir's Putin's closest allies, including his former chief of security and the CEO of Nord Stream 2, the FCDO said.

The Netherlands recently released a "non-paper" covering ways to boost its sanctions enforcement. The proposals include elevating information sharing between EU member states, establishing an EU point of contact and platform for sanctions circumvention data, using diplomatic tools to increase sanctions compliance and fight circumvention, and expanding the EU's designation criteria to include individuals and entities in third-party countries involved in sanctions circumvention for the use of products on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The EU urged all U.N. member states to fully implement Security Council sanctions imposed on North Korea following its launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile Feb. 18 and short-range ballistic missiles Feb. 20. In a Feb. 23 statement, the European Council said it will work with its partners to restrict the flow of "finance, knowledge and components that the DPRK could use to support its unlawful weapons programme."

A group of European countries not in the EU aligned with a recent decision made under the bloc's Democratic Republic of the Congo sanctions regime, the European Council announced. In December, the council amended the designation criteria under the regime. The countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway aligned with the decision, the council said.

China dropped the need to declare on customs declaration forms for imported goods that "preventive disinfection has been implemented," the General Administration of Customs announced Feb. 21, according to an unofficial translation. The change to the declaration forms will take effect on March 1.

The U.K. added eight individuals to its Iran (Human Rights) sanctions regime, in a Feb. 20 notice from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. The individuals are Parviz Absalan, Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps deputy commander at Sistan and Baluchistan; Musa Asif Al-Hosseini, presiding judge of Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Courts of Karaj; Hassan Asgari, governor of Sanandaj; Morteza Barati, presiding judge of Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Courts of Isfahan; Amanollah Garshasbi, deputy commander of the IRGC for Sistan and Baluchistan province; Mohammad Karami, governor of Sistan and Baluchistan province; Hadi Mansouri, presiding judge of Branch 4 of the Revolutionary Courts of Mashhad; and Mohammad Taghi Osanloo, IRGC ground forces commander.

Europe has so far “neglected” the increasing competitiveness of Chinese chip design companies, presenting “challenges across the dimensions of national security, supply chain resilience and technological competitiveness for Europe,” European research institutions said in a recent report. Written by the Digital Power China research consortium and the Leiden Asia Centre, the report said the EU should better invest in its own chip design capabilities, strengthen the “indispensability” of its chip firms through “policy interventions,” “map the risk profile of increasing reliance on Chinese chip design” and more.

The EU imposed a sixth round of sanctions on Myanmar following its Feb. 1, 2021, military coup, the European Council announced Feb. 20. The new restrictions add nine individuals and seven entities to the sanctions list, including the nation's energy minister, "prominent businessmen who have supported the regime's repression with arms and dual use goods, and high-ranking officers in the Myanmar armed forces," the council said. The new additions also feature politicians and administrators from the Yangon region who helped carry out the July 2022 execution of four democracy activists.