The EU’s sanctions against North Korea have been consolidated: Council Regulation 2017/1509 replaces Council Regulation 329/2007 and contains the amendments which had been added to the former Regulation, and Council Decision (CFSP) 2017/1512 has been introduced to update Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/849 so that it reflects these amendments.
On August 24, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order (“Order”) imposing additional sanctions on Venezuela. The Order states that these sanctions, which primarily target the Government of Venezuela and the Venezuelan oil industry, are in response to the deepening political and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. The Order adds to a growing list of restrictions that apply to Venezuela, which is already subject to an arms embargo and licensing requirements on exports and reexports of specific categories of goods, software, and technology to military end-users or for military end-uses in Venezuela. The Order also follows the designation as Specially Designated Nationals of various Venezuelan government officials (including President Nicolas Maduro) pursuant to Executive Order 13692 of March 8, 2015 (see prior blog post here regarding this order).
In a continuing effort to pressure and isolate North Korea by targeting entities and individuals in third countries, on Tuesday, August 22, 2017, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and US Justice Department (“DOJ”) announced sanctions and a civil forfeiture action, respectively, targeting Chinese and Russian entities accused of directly or indirectly assisting or supporting North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. China is North Korea’s primary trading partner and these actions appear to be an effort, in part, to ramp up pressure on China to assist in curtailing its neighbor’s nuclear ambitions.
In recent days, the European Union (“EU”) has implemented measures giving effect to United Nations Security Council (“UNSC”) resolutions targeting Libya’s oil sector. Additionally, the UNSC has recently sanctioned one further entity. On 4 August 2017, the European Union adopted: Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1419 of 4 August 2017 amending Regulation (EU) 2016/44 (see here) and Council Decision (CFSP) 2017/1427 of 4 August 2017 amending Decision (CFSP) 2015/1333 (see here), which implement UNSC Resolution 2362 (2017)…