On 26 September 2023, the US Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) announced that the “Five Eyes” countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States) issued joint guidance (“Five Eyes Guidance”) identifying high priority items critical to Russian weapons systems and urging specific actions to prevent diversion of these items to Russia through third countries. This comes just a few months after the Five Eyes countries established a coordinated effort on…
Introduction During September 2023, the US, UK, and EU, and Japan, updated their Common High Priority Items Lists (“the List(s)”), with seven new Harmonized System (“HS”) codes. These coordinated Lists are composed of items identified as critical to Russia’s war effort, weapons systems and military development. The Lists highlight to businesses that there is a particularly high risk these sanctioned items may be the target of sanctions circumvention and possible diversion to Russia. Companies can…
This week in our Sanctions Enforcement Around the World series, we bring you the view from the Czech Republic. What are the recent sanctions enforcement trends in the Czech Republic? While historically the Czech Republic has had legal tools to enforce the international sanctions, the actual enforcement activities of the Czech authorities were rather limited in the past. In reaction to the EU and subsequently also national sanctions targeting Russia and Belarus, the Czech Republic…
On 28 June 2023, the US Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) announced that the “Five Eyes” countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States) have agreed to formally coordinate on export control enforcement, with a particular emphasis on the export controls targeting Russia and Belarus, which have been a core tool in the broader sanctions toolbox. Baker McKenzie has deep export controls expertise in four of the Five Eyes countries: …