Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2666 actions· ✨ 90 recent

Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 431 of 17 April 2026, signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, sets temporary export quotas on mineral fertilisers from Russia for the six-month period 1 June – 30 November 2026. The aggregate quota is approximately 20 million tonnes, comprising over 8.7 Mt for nitrogen fertilisers (urea, ammonium sulphate, UAN), over 4.2 Mt for ammonium nitrate (a separate sub-quota, suspended from 21 March – 21 April 2026 before this cycle opened), and over 7 Mt for complex fertilisers (NPK, NP, NPS, DAP, MAP). The measure continues the recurring six-month quota architecture in place since late 2021 and is the direct successor to the Dec 2024 – May 2025 cycle fixed under Resolution 1400 of October 2024 (and its subsequent extensions). Exemptions apply to EEU members, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, humanitarian-aid lots, and transit flows.

Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 2089 of 22 December 2025 sets the tariff quota for the export of wheat, meslin, barley, and corn from Russia to countries outside the Eurasian Economic Union at 20 million tonnes, effective from 15 February to 30 June 2026. The quota for rye exports is set at zero tonnes. Within the quota, exports remain subject to Russia's floating in-quota grain export duty (formula-driven, indexed to global wheat reference prices); shipments outside the quota face a duty of 50% of customs value, but not less than €100 per tonne. Humanitarian-aid shipments authorised by separate government decisions are exempt. The H1 2026 cap roughly doubles the 10.6-Mt H1 2025 quota and is calibrated to a record 137-Mt 2025/26 Russian grain harvest.

On 31 July 2025 the Slovenian government (under PM Robert Golob) adopted a decision, based on Article 28 of the Regulation on Approvals for Production and Permits for Trade in Military Weapons and Equipment, banning the export and transit of military weapons and equipment from or through Slovenia to Israel, and the import of such equipment from Israel, citing serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza. The ban covers items on the EU Common Military List and carves out an exception for equipment necessary for Slovenia's own security and resilience. Slovenia was the first EU/European country to enact such a measure. On 11 June 2026 the successor government under PM Janez Janša revoked the ban, arguing weapons-export conditions are already covered by the Defence Act and that no transit permits to/from Israel had been issued since 2023, and citing a wish to restore normal diplomatic channels with Israel.

South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy issued the 36th amendment to the Public Notice on Export and Import of Strategic Items (전략물자수출입고시) as MOTIE Notice No. 2025-20, with promulgation on 24 February 2025 and effect from 28 February 2025. The amendment adds 21 advanced-technology items and technologies — including quantum computers, AI-class semiconductors, 3D-printing equipment, isotopes for quantum computing, ultra-low-temperature measurement equipment, and high-temperature coatings — to the Strategic Items List, implementing recent updates from the Wassenaar Arrangement, Nuclear Suppliers Group, Missile Technology Control Regime, and Australia Group multilateral export-control regimes. The same amendment introduces a humanitarian-medical-device carve-out for exports of diagnostic X-ray and radiographic imaging equipment to Russia, simplifies end-user verification (intermediaries deemed final end-user where verification is "extremely difficult"), extends the post-transaction reporting period from 7 days to 3 months, creates a self-disclosure system for non-compliance, and allows one-time extensions of individual export licences beyond original validity.

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published in the Federal Register (89 FR 84472–84474, FR Doc 2024-24524) three general licenses issued under the Western Balkans Stabilization Regulations (31 CFR Part 588): GL 3A, GL 4, and GL 5. All three were originally issued on 18 June 2024 concurrent with OFAC's expansion of Republika Srpska / Dodik-network designations; the 23 October 2024 Federal Register notice formalises them per the Administrative Procedure Act notice requirements. GL 3A (which superseded GL 3 of 16 November 2023) authorises transactions involving certain WBSR-blocked entities that are ordinarily incident and necessary to the exportation or re-exportation of agricultural commodities, medicine, medical devices, replacement parts and components, software updates, or activities involving medical prevention, diagnosis, treatment, or clinical trials. GL 4 authorises wind-down transactions with entities blocked on 18 June 2024 through a defined cutoff. GL 5 authorises transactions ordinarily incident and necessary to the manufacture, distribution, operation, installation, or maintenance/repair of drinking-water pumps manufactured or distributed by the WBSR-blocked Bosnian Serb entity Kaldera Company EL PGP d.o.o. (and 50%-or-more-owned subsidiaries), preserving municipal water supply continuity.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a final rule amending three sanctions programs. The rule adds a new general license at 31 CFR § 525.512 to the Burma Sanctions Regulations authorizing the provision of agricultural commodities, medicine, medical devices, replacement parts and components for medical devices, and software updates for medical devices to individuals whose property and interests in property are blocked. It also updates the authorities section of the Burma Sanctions Regulations to reflect recent legislation, replaces "the Office of Foreign Assets Control" / "the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control" with the acronym "OFAC" in three sections of the Sudan Stabilization Sanctions Regulations, and corrects a cross-reference in the Ukraine-/Russia- Related Sanctions Regulations. The rule is effective on publication.

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a final rule amending 31 CFR § 560.540 of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR) to incorporate, with amendments, General License (GL) D-2 — originally issued on OFAC's website on September 23, 2022 — which authorizes the export, reexport, and provision of certain services, software, and hardware incident to communications over the internet to persons in Iran. The codification preserves the GL D-2 expansion (cloud-based services; third-country importation of hardware/software previously exported to Iran; ex-Iran installation, repair and replacement services; case-by-case licensing for internet-freedom activities) and updates the § 560.540 List of Services, Software, and Hardware Incident to Communications. Effective June 17, 2024, the List is amended to exclude laptops, tablets, and personal computing devices with an Adjusted Peak Performance (APP) exceeding 1 Weighted TeraFLOP (WT) — narrowing the consumer-electronics authorization to lower-performance devices and aligning the carve-out with broader BIS-style compute thresholds. The rule does not relax primary ITSR prohibitions; it codifies a humanitarian / internet-freedom exception while inserting a narrow high-performance-compute carve-out.

On 2 May 2024 Türkiye's Ministry of Trade announced that all export, import and transit transactions with Israel, covering all product groups, were halted, as the second phase after the 9 April 2024 restriction on 54 product groups. Customs declarations naming Israel as country of shipment, destination or origin are no longer registered. The ministry stated the halt stays in force until Israel declares a ceasefire in Gaza and allows uninterrupted humanitarian aid access.

On 9 April 2024, Türkiye's Ministry of Trade restricted exports of 1,019 tariff lines across 54 product groups to Israel — including cement, marble, sulphur, aluminium wire, ceramics, varnishes and mineral fertilisers — in response to Israel's conduct of the Gaza war and its refusal of a Turkish request to participate in aid airdrops. The government stated the restriction would remain in force until Israel declared an immediate ceasefire and allowed unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza. The measure was superseded three weeks later, on 2 May 2024, when the Ministry halted all exports, imports and transit trade with Israel across every product category.

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published in the Federal Register (89 FR 16400, FR Doc 2024-04856) two general licenses issued under the Western Balkans Stabilization Regulations (31 CFR Part 588): GL 2 and GL 3. Both were originally issued on 16 November 2023 concurrent with OFAC's initial round of Republika Srpska / Dodik-network designations; the 7 March 2024 Federal Register notice formalises them per the Administrative Procedure Act notice requirements. GL 2 authorises wind-down transactions with newly blocked WBSR entities through 15 March 2024. GL 3 authorises exports and re-exports of agricultural commodities, medicine, medical devices, replacement parts, and services for medical prevention and treatment to WBSR-blocked persons; GL 3 was subsequently superseded by GL 3A on 18 June 2024.

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a final rule in the Federal Register (89 FR 15769, FR Doc 2024-04500) renaming the Darfur Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 546) to the Sudan Stabilization Sanctions Regulations and amending them to implement Executive Order 14098 of May 4, 2023. E.O. 14098 broadened US sanctions authority beyond the Darfur-specific frame to cover all persons destabilising Sudan and undermining democratic transition, responding to the SAF–RSF armed conflict that erupted in April 2023. The rule adds new general licenses covering legal-service payments (§ 546.508), African Union transactions (§ 546.511), and agricultural/medical exports (§ 546.513), and introduces an interpretative provision clarifying that entities are not automatically blocked solely because a blocked individual holds a leadership position.

OFAC amended § 510.512 of the North Korea Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 510) to broaden the scope of authorized humanitarian activities for NGOs operating in North Korea, including permitting transactions with certain Government of North Korea entities where necessary to deliver authorized services. Three new general licenses were added: one for exports and re-exports of items licensed by the Commerce Department; one for agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices; and one for journalistic activities in North Korea. NGOs relying on the authorization must notify the State Department at least 30 days before commencing activity.

On 21 December 2022 OFAC published final rule FR Doc 2022-27564, amending 30 CFR parts (31 CFR Parts 510, 525, 536, 539, 541, 542, 544, 546, 547, 548, 549, 551, 552, 555, 558, 560, 561, 562, 569, 576, 579, 582, 583, 584, 585, 591, 594, 596, 597, 598) to add or update general licenses authorising (1) official business of the US government and (2) official business of designated international organisations and entities across the full OFAC program library. The rule also updates the 50 Percent Rule interpretive provision, clarifying that an entity's property is blocked when one or more blocked persons own an aggregate interest of 50 percent or more — directly or indirectly — and corrects CFR citations to meet current Federal Register formatting requirements. Published as companion to FR Doc 2022-27639 (NGO and humanitarian GLs), both rules effective 21 December 2022.

On 20–21 December 2022 OFAC published two final rules (87 FR 78470 and 87 FR 78484) amending regulations across more than 30 sanctions programs to add general licenses (GLs) authorising four categories of humanitarian activity: (1) certain NGO transactions for disaster relief, health, democracy support, education, environmental protection, and peacebuilding; (2) provision of agricultural commodities, medicine, medical devices, replacement parts, and software updates for medical devices to blocked persons for personal, non-commercial use; (3) US government official-business transactions; and (4) official-business transactions of designated international organisations (e.g. UN, ICRC). The rules amended 29 CFR parts spanning Nicaragua, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen, and more than two dozen other sanctioned programs. The NGO GL excludes knowing fund transfers to blocked persons unless specified criteria are met, preserving the core blocking perimeter while lowering humanitarian-access friction.

OFAC reissued the Central African Republic Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 553) in their entirety on 29 September 2022, replacing the abbreviated framework first published on 7 July 2014 under Executive Order 13667. The reissuance adds interpretive guidance, definitions, and general licenses — including provisions for humanitarian assistance, personal communications, and non-commercial personal remittances — without expanding the underlying substantive sanctions perimeter. The action is primarily a regulatory codification that provides compliance clarity for financial institutions and other US persons transacting with or near CAR.

On 4 August 2022 OFAC formally published in the Federal Register nine general licenses (GLs 17–25) that had previously been made available only on OFAC's website under EO 14065 (Donetsk/Luhansk regions) and, for GL 25, also EO 13685 (Crimea). GL 17, which authorised wind-down of Donetsk/Luhansk transactions, had already expired on 23 March 2022. GLs 18–25 remain in force and authorise a structured set of humanitarian and civil-society carve-outs — covering agricultural commodities, medicine and medical devices, telecommunications, official international organisation business, personal remittances, internet-based communications, NGO activities, civil maritime services, and journalistic activities — within the otherwise restricted territory of Crimea, the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), and the Luhansk People's Republic (LNR).

The US Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added 71 entities — 70 Russian and 1 Belarusian — to the Entity List, effective June 2, 2022, in direct response to Russia's further invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The entities were designated as military end users acquiring or attempting to acquire US-origin items in support of Russia's military, and are subject to a policy of denial for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Sixty-six entities receive a "footnote 3" military end-user designation, while five face outright denial with no license exceptions available beyond humanitarian food and medicine.

The Biden administration on 2 March 2021 determined, pursuant to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act), that Russia used a Novichok-class nerve agent against opposition figure Alexei Navalny in August 2020 — the third CBW Act invocation against Russia (after Salisbury 2018 and its follow-on 2019 round). The determination triggered mandatory statutory sanctions including termination of US foreign assistance to Russia (except humanitarian aid and food/agricultural commodities), suspension of US arms and defense-article sales and export authorisations to Russia, and denial of US government credit and financial assistance. Seven Russian government officials linked to the poisoning were concurrently designated by Treasury/OFAC. The measures take effect after a mandatory 15-day congressional notification period and remain in force for at least 12 months unless Russia certifies Chemical Weapons Convention compliance and takes other required steps.