Shipping-related concerns and supply chain headaches for managers across the globe are expected to continue throughout 2022, Bloomberg reported. The COVID-19 omicron variant is surging and logistics companies are struggling to put together full staffs, exacerbating existing supply issues, the report said. The International Road Transport Union found that about 20% of all professional truck driving jobs are unfilled, despite increased wages, Bloomberg reported. The year “2022 is shaping up to be another year of severe disruption, undersupply and extreme cost for cargo owners,” Simon Heaney, an analyst at maritime research consultancy Drewry, told Bloomberg. “The virus is once again showing it’s in charge.” Heaney is predicting another 12 months of labor shortages and healthcare-related difficulties.

The U.K. lifted its suspension on licensing military exports to Turkey, the Export Control Joint Unit said in a Dec. 13 notice. Confident that decisions on all license applications to Turkey can be taken on a case-by-case basis following a careful assessment against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, the ECJU released the military export suspension and will work with advisory government departments to get through some of the applications, it said. The expectation is that the unit will take around eight weeks to clear the backlog of existing applications for Turkey, the ECJU said.

Switzerland has added 17 individuals and 11 entities to its Belarus sanctions regime, following the EU in its sanctions relating to Belarus' moves aiding illegal border crossings into the EU. The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs' sanctioned individuals and entities include high-ranking Belarusian officials and hotels that contributed to the border crossings.

The United Kingdom added entries to its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime and to its Central African Republic sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in a pair of notices. Sanaullah Ghafari, the ISIL-K emir in Afghanistan, was added to the list, after being appointed by the ISIS core to lead ISIL-K in June 2020. Ali Darassa was added to the CAR sanctions regime. He founded and leads the CAR-based militia group Unite pour la Paix en Centrafrique (Union for Peace in the CAR), which has committed human rights violations.

The European Union imposed countervailing duties on aluminum converter foil from China, with duties of 8.6% to 18.2%, the European Commission said in a Dec. 22 notice. The duties specifically cover "aluminium converter foil of a thickness of less than 0,021 mm, not backed, not further worked than rolled, in rolls of a weight exceeding 10 kg" and cover July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020. Four products are excluded, and they include "Aluminium household foil of a thickness of not less than 0,008 mm and not more than 0,018 mm, not backed, not further worked than rolled, in rolls of a width not exceeding 650 mm and of a weight exceeding 10 kg."

Seven countries aligned with the European Union's decision to sanction 17 individuals and 11 entities relating to the ongoing situation in Belarus, the European Council said Dec. 22. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway also sanctioned the relevant parties. On Dec. 2, the EU, along with the U.S. and other allies, sanctioned a host of individuals and entities in Belarus for aiding illegal border crossings through Belarus to the EU (see 2112020023).

The United Kingdom extended four autonomous tariff rate quotas for fish products at current volume levels and the ATQ for raw cane sugar at its current volume level until Dec. 31, 2024, the Department for International Trade announced. These ATQs will be reviewed ahead of this date, the DIT said. One remaining ATQ for fish products will go up to 6,500 metric tons for 2022, and it will be reviewed by Dec. 31, 2022, the announcement said.

Russia has imposed travel bans on a "proportionate number of British representatives who are deeply involved in anti-Russian activities" in response to the U.K.'s designation of seven Russian citizens over the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Russia's Foreign Ministry announced Dec. 17. Russia did not specify which individuals it listed. The foreign ministry said it considers the U.K.'s latest sanctions move to be "practical confirmation of the British government's intention to continue its destructive course in bilateral affairs."

The European Council approved on Dec. 20 revised rules for the "use of hired road vehicles for goods transport," with the European Parliament expected to OK them shortly. The measures clarify rules, harmonize the legal framework for lorry drivers and ease the restrictions on the use of such vehicles, the council said. EU member states have to incorporate the new provisions into their national legislation 14 months after the directive is entered into force.

The Court of Odense, Denmark, fined bunker fuel supplier Dan-Bunkering over $4.5 million for violating European Union sanctions when it sold 172,000 tons of jet fuel for use in Syria between 2015 and 2017, the EU Sanctions blog reported Dec. 18. The court also fined Dan-Bunkering's parent company, Bunker Holding, over $600,000 and sentenced Bunker Holding's CEO to four months in prison for the sanctions violations. Authorities seized over $2.3 million in profits from Dan-Bunkering. The court said the company intentionally violated the sanctions since it must have known that the Russian military would use the jet fuel in Syria. The sales were made to two Russian entities in 33 transactions.