The EU said in a statement that the new initiative aligns with its Import Control System 2 and would  launch on June 3, 2024.

According to the union, the new policy will require traders to provide data on goods sent to or through the region before their arrival.

The union said the new process, which applies to maritime and inland waterways, as well as road and rail in the region, would mandate importers to make a complete entry summary declaration.

This is the third phase of the implementation of the new system that will extend safety and security data reporting requirements to all modes of transport.

Similar requirements already went into force for air transportation of goods, the EU said.

The statement read in part, “With this third release, maritime and inland waterways, road and rail carriers will also need to provide data on goods sent to or through the EU before their arrival, through a complete Entry Summary Declaration (ENS).

This obligation also concerns postal and express carriers who transport goods using these modes of transport as well as other parties, such as logistics providers. In certain circumstances, final consignees established in the EU will also have to submit ENS data to ICS2.”

The EU advised traders to prepare in advance for Release 3 to avoid the risk of delays and non-compliance.

“Affected businesses will be required to make sure they collect accurate and complete data from their clients, update their IT systems and operational processes, and provide adequate training to their staff.”

Traders were also required to complete a self-conformance test from “December 11, 2023” before connecting to ICS2, “to verify their ability to access and exchange messages with customs authorities”.

The Union said EU Member States will grant authorisation, upon request, to the affected traders to gradually connect to ICS2 within a time-limited deployment window.

“Member States can grant the deployment window anytime within the following timeframes: from 3 June 2024 to 4 December 2024 (maritime and inland waterway carriers); from 4 December 2024 to 1 April 2025 (maritime and inland waterway house level filers); and from 1 April 2025 to 1 September 2025 (road and rail carriers).

“If traders are not ready on time, and do not provide the data required under ICS2, goods will be stopped at the EU borders and will not be cleared by the customs authorities.”

The EU Foreign Policy Chief, Josep Borrell, in a statement, said ”Around 100 civilians, including women and children, were believed killed in a massacre.”

According to AFP, it is not clear who was behind the November 6 attack in the village of Zaongo. However, Borrell called on Burkina Faso’s military junta to shed light on the circumstances of the deaths. It has not yet responded.

Burkina Faso is trying to contain a jihadist insurgency that spread from neighbouring Mali.

The military government has been forcing civilians to join the fight against the Islamist groups, who are said to control about 40% of the country.

About a quarter of Burkina Faso’s schools have been forced to close because of the insurgency, according to aid agencies.

One resident told the AFP news agency that Zaongo was one of the few villages in the area not to have been “emptied out by the terrorists”.

“Some suspected the inhabitants of collaborating with them,” the resident said.

The army seized power last year, vowing to stop the jihadist attacks. If anything, the number of deaths has since increased.

Last year was the country’s most deadly on record, according to the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (Acled), with more than 1,400 civilian deaths.

So far this year, almost 8,000 people have been reported killed due to violence in the country, Acled said.

However, research by the Nuffield Trust think-tank particularly points to shortages of anaesthetists, paediatricians, psychiatrists, heart and lung specialists.

According to the study, around 37,000 doctors from European countries were working in Britain in 2021.

Brexit had led to slower recruitment of medical staff. Without it, Britain would currently have around 41,300 European doctors, almost 4,300 more than now.

Since Britain left the European Union, specialists need work visas, which are associated with high costs and cumbersome bureaucracy.

Even if more Britons were trained doctors, the current shortage would not be solved quickly because of the length of time it takes to qualify in the medical profession, Kitty Mohan of the British Medical Association said.

Meanwhile, Britain’s NHS is chronically underfunded and understaffed.

In England alone, there is an overall shortage of more than 10,500 doctors.

The EU and GIZ donated the equipment to the Commission on Friday in Abuja at the official launch of the EU funded Institutional Support to ECOWAS programme, which is aimed at enhancing the effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of the EU aid in West Africa.

The equipment would help the commission meet international best-practice standards in order to access financial and other support from the EU and other world donor agencies and foreign governments.

The Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mrs Cecile Tassin-Pelzer, said that the programme was developed to train internal personnel who will in turn train staff of the Commission She explained that the internal trainers will support in conducting regular training for old and new staff of ECOWAS institution.#

She said: “This is a 4.85 million Euro Programme also co-funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and implemented by the GIZ. Today, we shall be handing over equipment purchased under the programme to support the training centre and celebrate the graduation of the centre’s first set of internal ECOWAS Trainers. The Institutional Support Programme which we are launching today was developed as a follow-up to previous programmes to strengthen the Public Finance Management and Institutional Reforms initiated by ECOWAS. The programme began in Dec. 2020 and aims to ensure that the ECOWAS Commission, as well as the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development, attain international standards in finance, audit, accounting and human resource. This programme has provided support for the validation process of revised ECOWAS Staff regulation support towards the preparation of harmonized Human resource policies and procedures. As well as the drafting and validation of a new ECOWAS Code of Ethics.”

Also speaking at the event, the Head of Component, Institutional Support for ECOWAS (ISE), Natalie Ba said for several years, Germany has been supporting ECOWAS in strengthening their strategic management competencies and their preparations for the EU-pillar assessment.

She said: “These two areas of support go hand in hand and offer a great deal of potential for synergies. The pillar assessment is a very deep and thorough evaluation of the internal processes of an organisation. It looks at all aspects of the inner workings and processes within an organisation and allows it to better implement its objectives.”

She noted that a pillar assessed ECOWAS Commission would achieve two major objectives, “First, it would allow the Commission to independently implement funds from the European Union. It would thus increase both its independence and its potential impact with more funding available to be used for its programmes.
Second, it would prove that the internal processes of the Commission are compliant with international standards of – among other things – Internal control, accounting and auditing processes as well as data protection. Through that, the ECOWAS Commission could demonstrate once again to all its beneficiaries and stakeholders that it is a progressive and forward-looking organisation that has dedicated itself to excellence in all aspects of its operations.”

The EU statement was issued just ahead of Brussels signing a major investment pact with Beijing, despite concerns about China’s labour and civil rights record.

EU foreign policy spokesman Peter Stano said in a statement. “Prior to her detention, Ms Zhang Zhan had been reporting about the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan, according to credible sources, Ms Zhang has been subject to torture and ill-treatment during her detention and her health condition has seriously deteriorated. It is crucial that she receives adequate medical assistance. The European Union calls for the immediate release of Ms Zhang Zhan, of Mr Yu Wensheng and of other detained and convicted human rights defenders,” the statement said.

The statement listed Li Yuhan, Huang Qi, Ge Jueping, Qin Yongmin, Gao Zhisheng, Ilham Tohti, Tashi Wangchuk, Wu Gan, Liu Feiyue as well as all those who have engaged in reporting activities in the public interest.

According to the government, what this means is that only airlines from countries that allow flights from Nigeria will be allowed to fly into and out of Nigeria.

It specifically stated that airlines from the European Union would not be allowed into Nigeria as the EU had recently banned flights and visitors from Nigeria.

Recall that on July 2, 2020, the Council of the European Union had opened its borders to 15 countries, excluding Nigeria.

According to information obtained from the EU website at the time, Nigeria was still not a part of the countries from where visitors were allowed into Europe.

Speaking at Thursday’s briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said Nigeria’s position was informed by the ban placed by some countries on flights from Nigeria.

The minister, who was represented by the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Capt. Musa Nuhu, argued that the decision was taken in the interest of Nigerians.

He said, “On the list of countries (that are banned), we are working on the comprehensive list, but the main one that came up is when the EU opened their borders effective 1st July, Nigeria was among the list of 54 countries that were not allowed to enter the EU.

“To my understanding, as the situation changes, they are going to look at the list and change it. But so far, we don’t have any contrary information to that first one that Nigeria is banned from going to the EU.

“So, as we open our airspace, we are going to apply the issue of reciprocity to those (EU) countries.”

Sirika also stated that airlines would be informed on arrangements that had been put in place to ensure that the resumption of flights were hitch-free.

He stated that for now, only a few flights per day would be permitted, adding that they would operate as test runs of the protocols put in place to ensure the safe return to international operations.

The protocols, according to him, would be made public in due course.

Sirika also stated that inbound international passengers would be limited to 1,280.

He said only this number would be allowed to fly into the Lagos and Abuja airports once international flights resume on August 29, 2020.

Ms von der Leyen told a press conference: ‘The UK citizens are European citizens so of course there are no restrictions for the UK citizens to travel to the continent. Here in Europe, we are heavily affected by a coronavirus and we know that everything that reduces social interaction also reduces the speed of the spread of the virus. The less travel, the more we can contain the virus. Therefore, as I have just informed our G7 partners, I propose to the heads of state and governments, to introduce temporary restrictions on non-essential travel to the European Union.’

She said exemptions would include long-term EU residents, family members of EU nationals, diplomats, doctors and researchers working on containing the health crisis. Doctors, nurses, care workers, and experts tackling the coronavirus pandemic would also be exempt.

In its resolution on January 16, 2020, the group of 28 countries that operates as a cohesive economic and political block lamented over the deteriorating security situation in Nigeria.

It also asked the Nigerian government to allow the UN’s access to its military detention facilities and to also sign a formal handover protocol to ensure that children detained by the military are quickly transferred to appropriate child protection authorities.

The parliament said it “Deplores the terrorist attacks which have taken place in the country; reiterates its concern about the protracted crisis in Nigeria and the volatile security situation in the north-east, and strongly condemns the repeated violations of human rights, international and humanitarian law, whether based on religion or ethnicity. Condemns, in particular, the recent increase in violence against ethnic and religious communities, including the targeting of religious institutions and worshippers. Deplores that progress has stalled in the fight against Boko Haram, ISWAP and the increased occurrence and severity of suicide attacks and direct attacks against military positions; recalls that Nigeria’s President Buhari was re-elected in 2019 on the promise of defeating the violent extremism promoted by Boko Haram and other terror groups, and urges the President to implement his campaign promises. Urges the Nigerian authorities to guarantee respect for human rights in the country, and to protect the civilian population from terrorism and violence; insists that such efforts must be conducted in full accordance with respect for human rights and the rule of law, in line with the country’s international obligations. Considers any form of extermination of human beings or ethnic cleansing barbaric and a crime against humanity; urges the Nigerian Government to address the root causes of violence by ensuring equal rights for all citizens and non-discrimination legislation; insists, in this regard, on the need to further promote inter-religious dialogue and the peaceful coexistence of citizens irrespective of their religion, engaging with all relevant stakeholders, including the Nigerian Inter-religious Council”

The government’s agenda for the year was laid out in the Queen’s Speech, delivered in the House of Lords by Queen Elizabeth II at the state opening of Parliament. It then moves to debate and eventual symbolic vote in the House of Commons.

“We have no time to waste and we begin immediately with the most radical Queen’s Speech in a generation to deliver on the priorities of the British people,” Johnson said in the foreword to the speech.

It comes a week after Johnson’s Conservative Party stormed to an 80-seat House of Commons majority in a general election that exceeded Tory expectations and gives the prime minister a clear mandate to get his agenda through Parliament.

The top priority was Britain’s departure from the European Union, having run on the slogan “Get Brexit Done.” The government intends to pass Johnson’s withdrawal bill — negotiated with the E.U. — before the end of January, and announced Thursday that the new version of the bill means that a post-Brexit transition period must end by the end of 2020.

On the question of immigration, which shadowed the Brexit issue, the Johnson government intends to introduce an Australian-style points system that it says will prioritize high-skilled immigrants who speak English and who don’t have criminal records.

It will also introduce a fast-track visa system to encourage doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to come to the U.K., as part of an effort to combat a staff shortage in the country’s struggling National Health Service.