A group of European countries not in the EU aligned with a recent EU decision to amend the list of individuals and entities subject to restrictions on Tunisia, the European Council announced. The countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway aligned with the decision, ensuring that their national laws conform to the action.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Dec. 28 listed one individual under its new Haiti sanctions regime, which officially came into force the same day (see 2212090011). The individual, Jimmy Cherizier, is one of Haiti's most "influential" gang leaders, OFSI said, and leads an alliance of Haitian gangs known as the "G9 Family and Allies."
The U.K. on Dec. 28 amended one entry and corrected another under its Russia sanctions regime. The entry for Oje Parvaz Mado Nafar, an Iran-based manufacturer that produces unmanned aerial vehicles that are being shipped to Russia for the war in Ukraine, was amended to correct the spelling of its address. The entry for Said Mikhailovich Gutseriev was corrected to add Russian as his second nationality; he is also a British national.
Crowell attorneys in Brussels note that the new EU regulation that prohibits both export and import of certain commodities if they come from land that was recently deforested (see 2212070039) will affect more than high-risk countries such as Indonesia, Brazil or Ivory Coast.
The European Council removed the listing for the Libyan Arab African Investment Co. from its Libya sanctions regime after a ruling from the EU General Court annulling the listing. LAAICO was initially listed in 2016 and was upheld on the sanctions list in July. The General Court found the sanctions listing was not properly made.
Belgium's treasury laid out the conditions to apply for a license for the sale of positions deposited with the Russian National Settlement Depository (NSD) and frozen in Belgian financial institution accounts, the treasury announced. The guidance comes following the Luxembourg Finance Ministry's decision permitting the release of the NSD's frozen funds. The treasury is requiring that license requestors have the commitment of a European operator; reporting on the positions to be sold, the due diligence of the applicants and the payment instructions of the individuals and entities benefiting from the proceeds of the sale of the positions; and ex-post reporting on the positions sold, beneficiaries of the sale and evidence that the proceeds were put in a nonsanctioned entity.
Switzerland this month added new entries to its Democratic Republic of Congo sanctions regime, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. The agency added eight people and modified nine entries. The sanctions took effect Dec. 20.
The U.K. and India held the sixth round of free trade agreement talks Dec. 12-13, the U.K.'s Department for International Trade said, with some officials attending in person in India and others joining virtually. The talks covered 11 policy areas over 28 sessions and included "detailed draft treaty text discussions in these policy areas," the DIT said. The next round of talks will take place early next year.
The U.K. on Dec. 20 added a "new licensing ground related to medical goods" to the licensing grounds for exports of Russia's vulnerable goods, the Export Control Joint Unit announced. Under the Russian sanctions regime, interested parties must now apply for a license with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation to export medical goods to Russia.
Russia and Iran are building a new trade route that runs from the eastern edge of Europe to the Indian Ocean, a path insulated from foreign intervention, Bloomberg reported Dec. 21. Using ship-tracking data, Bloomberg found that "dozens of Russian and Iranian vessels" are already trading in the route with tens of billions of dollars being invested to boost trading volumes. The goal is to circumvent sanctions by "creating trade networks protected from interdiction."