After the UK government overwhelmingly rejected Prime Minister May’s Withdrawal Agreement in January, the Prime Minister is back to negotiations with the EU in an attempt to hammer out a Brexit deal favorable for Britain before the 29 March deadline. … Continue Reading
UPDATE: The UK Export Control Joint Unit issued a general license authorizing export of dual-use goods from the UK to the EU in case of hard Brexit. The licence will enter into force on March 29, 2019 at 11 p.m. UK time. … Continue Reading
UPDATE: The Tariff Book was updated again on December 17, 2018. Changes were made to the US section. How To Use The Tariff Book Because there is so much information included in this Tariff Book, we have made the document fully searchable. The information provided in this book comes from number of different sources, some of which are … Continue Reading
On October 15, 2018, the Council of the EU adopted new sanctions against people and entities involved in providing financial, technical or material support for or otherwise involved in any business transaction related to proliferation of chemical weapons. In particular, EU sanctions provide for the freezing of assets for sanctioned people/entities.… Continue Reading
In October 2018, the EU decided to amend its list of sanctioned entities and persons in the following countries: Burundi, Guinea and North Korea. Further, the European Commission added new persons to sanctions directed against the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida organizations, and removed restrictions imposed on one Iraqi entity. The up-to-date consolidated list of all entities and people subject to EU … Continue Reading
Directive 2009/43/EC (so-called the “Transfer Directive”) regulates terms and conditions of the transfer of defense-related products within the EU. According to the Transfer Directive, products are subject to licensing requirements to the extent they are “specially designed for military use”. The European Commission, in close cooperation with member states, has undertaken an initiative to clarify the scope of the term “specially designed … Continue Reading
The Council of the EU has decided to prolong the applications of Libya related sanctions against three persons until 2 October 2018. (Council Decision (CFSP) 2018/476)… Continue Reading
In order to implement the UN Security Council resolution of 30 January 2018, the Council of the EU has amended the scope of the exemptions to the embargo on exports of arms to the Central African Republic (CAR). In addition, the EU has amended the criteria for designation of persons and entities under the CAR-related sanctions. (Council Decision (CFSP) … Continue Reading
The UK Trade Bill continued to be debated in the House of Commons with a second reading taking place on 9 January 2018. One of the main contributions of the bill is the establishment of the UK Trade Remedies Authority, an institution responsible for investigations into trade remedies, a responsibility currently assigned to the European … Continue Reading
On 6 December 2017, the Venezuela (European Union Financial Sanctions) Regulations 2017 entered into force in the UK. This regulation implements Council Regulation (EU) 2017/2063 of 13 November 2017 and provides for the imposition of restrictive measures on persons or entities considered to be involved in undermining democratic principles and the rule of law, as … Continue Reading
On 31 January 2018, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy announced that Montenegro, Albania, Norway and Ukraine had aligned themselves with EU Council Decision (CFSP) 2017/2426. They have, therefore, extended a part of the sanctions imposed on Russia in relation to its violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity … Continue Reading
On 22 January 2018, the Council made public for the first time the directives given to the European Commission to negotiate a Modernised EU-Chile Association Agreement. Quite interestingly, the Commission should address specific issues such as the promotion and liberalisation of investments, the protection of intellectual property rights, the elimination of non-tariff barriers, the cooperation … Continue Reading
On 5 July 2016, the European Commission presented a proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive (EU) 2015/849, which is intended to prevent the financial system from being used for money laundering or terrorist financing. Following negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament, a provisional agreement was … Continue Reading
Presented by the European Commission on 28 September 2016, the dual-use items Regulation Proposal aims at reviewing the export control regime of dual-use items. The proposal contains amendments to key export control notions, for example, the amending of the definition of “dual-use” to include cyber-surveillance technologies. It also clarifies controls on intangible technology transfer (ITT) … Continue Reading
The EU extended asset-freezes against persons provided in Council Decision 2011/72/CFSP and in Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 101/2011 who are considered to be responsible for the misappropriation of Tunisian State funds. On 29 January 2018, the sanctions were extended until 31 January 2019 (See Council Decision (CFSP) 2018/141 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/137).… Continue Reading
On 11 December 2017, the Council extended its current sanctions regime against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) until 12 December 2018. These sanctions were adopted in response to the obstruction of the electoral process and the related human rights violations in DRC (See Council (CFSP) Decision 2017/2282). EU Candidate Countries Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania, … Continue Reading
On 11 January 2018, the EU amended its list under Council Regulation No 881/2002 imposing certain specific restrictive measures directed against persons and entities associated with the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida organisations (See Commission Implementing Regulation No 2018/50).… Continue Reading
On 22 January 2018, the EU froze the assets of seven Venezuelan officials, notably including the Minister for Interior, the head of the Intelligence Service, the head of the National Electoral Council and the President of the Supreme Court of Justice. These individuals are considered by the EU to be “involved in the non-respect of … Continue Reading
On 8 January 2018, the EU aligned its North Korea sanctions list with part of UN Security Council Resolution 2397 adopted on 22 December 2017. Sixteen persons and one entity, the Ministry of the People‘s Armed Forces, have been added to the list of those subject to an asset freeze and travel restrictions (See Council … Continue Reading
On 21 December 2017, the Council of the European Union prolonged sanctions targeting sectors of the Russian economy until 31 July 2018 (See Council Decision (CFSP) 2017/2426). The restrictive measures include limited access to EU primary and secondary capital markets for certain Russian banks and companies, an export and import ban on trade in arms, … Continue Reading
On 10 January 2018, the European Commission published important notice warning of the consequences that Brexit will have in the field of industrial products[1], which are subject to CE Marking requirements when placed on the European Union (EU) market. For those products, the European Commission confirmed that, to demonstrate compliance with CE Marking requirements for … Continue Reading
On 16 December, the European Commission’s updates to the EU dual-use export control list entered into force. On 26 September 2017, the commission adopted the annual Delegated Regulation (2017/2268), which was published in the Official Journal on 15 December, updating the EU dual-use export control list in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 428/2009. The … Continue Reading
On 7 November, the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued a Financial Sanctions Notice confirming that, as of that date, no individuals or entities had been included in Annex I of the EU Regulation. This remains the case at the date of this post. By way of background, on 17 October 2017, the UK … Continue Reading
On 21 November, the UK government published the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill, the stated aim of which is to “allow the UK to set and collect its own duty on goods coming into the country and will allow the government to implement different outcomes of the EU negotiations, including an implementation period”. The government announcement … Continue Reading
