On 1 November 2021, the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation published an updated Charity Sector Guidance and a blog post in response to Afghanistan’s Taliban takeover in August. A copy of the Guidance is available here.
On 2 November 2021, the Ministry of Commerce of China officially released the revised Catalogue of Technologies Subject to Import Prohibition and Restriction, effective immediately, which identifies, among others, foreign “data encryption technology employing a key length greater than 256 bits” as a technology that requires import permit when transferred to a Chinese party.
On 30 October 2021, the president of Ukraine enacted four decisions of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine imposing personal special economic and other restrictive measures. The Decisions impose extensive sanctions restrictions, including, among others, asset freezes, restriction on the exit of capital from Ukraine, a ban on trade operations and the transit of resources, flights and transportation within the territory of Ukraine, and the suspension of the performance of economic and financial obligations, etc., upon legal entities and individuals involved in various activities.
During the latest session of the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation, the TCCV adopted Advisory Opinion 4.19, a new instrument on royalties and license fees under Article 8.1(c) of the Customs Valuation Agreement.
On 31 October 2021, the EU and US issued a joint statement announcing that they had reached an agreement to end their dispute over steel and aluminum tariffs. This agreement removes the US “Section 232” tariffs on imports of EU steel and aluminium, imposed during the Trump administration, whilst the EU has agreed to suspend additional duties imposed on US goods in retaliation. Both sides have also agreed to suspend disputes initiated against each other at the WTO in relation to the tariffs.
The Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia has issued a public consultation paper titled “Revamp of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Content Code”, proposing a number of changes to the prohibitions, restrictions and requirements on electronic content, particularly in relation to advertising, as well as broader implications for online service providers and online marketplace operators. The closing date for submission of feedback to the Content Forum is 10 December 2021.
On 6 October 2021, the Ministry of Information and Communications released a proposal to amend the Law on Telecommunications, including an outline for the proposed amendments. The outline of the new Law is still in a skeletal proposal form.
This week’s discussion in the ‘This Week in Government Enforcement’ series will cover the following:
• Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco on corporate enforcement priorities under the Biden Administration
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is targeting big tech
o What do they want and why do they want it?
o How should tech firms prepare, whether they receive a request from CFPB or not?
In November, the United States announced that Ethiopia, Guinea and Mali would be terminated from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (“AGOA”) trade preference program, unless they took urgent action to meet eligibility criteria by 1 January 2022. AGOA eligibility requirements include, among other things, that countries must follow the rule of law and implement economic policies that reduce poverty and combat corruption and bribery. Countries must also protect internationally recognized human and worker rights, and must not engage in activities that undermine national security interests.
Effective 1 January 2022, cloud service providers in Malaysia will be subjected to licensing requirements under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. Technical standards are also expected to be implemented in due course to ensure that licensed cloud service providers comply with prescribed requirements as to data security and data protection. Cloud service providers are advised to carefully consider whether the new licensing regime applies to their solutions, and to ensure they are duly licensed when the requirements come into force in the new year.