The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended and added sanctions entries related to Belarus, Syria and Turkey. OFSI on Nov. 9 amended two entries under its Turkey sanctions regime: Mehmet Ferruh Akalin and Ali Coscun Namoglu. The U.K. also added 12 government officials and amended three entries under its Belarus sanctions regime, and added eight entries to its Syria regime.

The European Union renewed its sanctions regime against Turkey’s illegal drilling activities in the Mediterranean for one year, a Nov. 6 notice said. The regime, extended until Nov. 12, 2021, currently targets two people.

Turkey recently amended its customs regulations to address situations wherein certificates of origins are not attached to a declaration, KPMG said in an Oct. 20 post. In those situations, the country’s government will allow traders to submit the certificate to the customs authority within six months, KPMG said. The change took effect Oct. 20.

Berkshire Hathaway will pay $4.1 million after its subsidiary illegally exported more than 140 shipments of cutting tools to Iran, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said in an Oct. 20 notice. Iscar Kesici Takim Ticareti ve Imalati Limited Sirket (Iscar Turkey), Berkshire’s Turkish subsidiary, hid the exports from its parent company, which resulted in more than $350,000 worth of orders going to Iranian end-users. Along with the fine, Berkshire committed to a range of sanctions compliance procedures in a settlement agreement with OFAC and will annually certify for the next five years that it is meeting its compliance obligations.

The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Oct. 19 (some may also be given separate headlines):

Turkey recently announced new procedures involving imports of dual-use items and technologies related to weapons of mass destruction, Herdem, an Istanbul-based law firm, said in an Oct. 13 post. Turkey’s trade ministry will approve all certificates of import and end-use requests submitted “from the importer by the exporting country,” the post said. Certificates will be valid for six months without an extension, it said. Turkey will also require a “permit letter” if the goods are transferred to a third country.

The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Oct. 14 (some may also be given separate headlines):

Canada suspended exports of certain military items to Turkey while Canada investigates whether its technologies are being used in the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the country is “concerned by the ongoing conflict” and the possibility of Canadian military technologies being used in the region. “In line with Canada’s robust export control regime and due to the ongoing hostilities, I have suspended the relevant export permits to Turkey, so as to allow time to further assess the situation,” Champagne said in an Oct. 5 statement.

The United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Oct. 9 added one entry to its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida Organisations sanctions list and corrected 17 entries on its Global Human Rights sanctions list. The U.K. added Jamal Hussein Hassan Zeiniye, leader of the Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, a terrorist organization, to its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida sanctions. It also revised identifying information for 17 Saudi, Russian, Myanmar and North Korea related entries. The Saudi individuals were cited for involvement in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who had been living in exile in the United States, in the Saudi consulate in Turkey.

Two U.S. senators urged the Trump administration to impose sanctions against Turkey for its purchase of Russian missile systems and criticized the Defense Department for not moving fast enough to remove Turkey from F-35 supply chains. Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and James Lankford, R-Okla., said the State Department should immediately impose asset freezes under the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act, adding that Turkey has “no intention of reversing course and divesting of this system.”