On Monday 11 December 2023, the UK Government updated its Notice to Importers (see here), published a new General Trade Licence (see here) and updated its guidance (see here) in relation to the UK’s iron and steel sanctions targeting Russia. As noted in our previous blog in April 2023, the UK introduced sanctions imposing a prohibition on the import of iron and steel products where the metal originated in Russia but was processed in a…
The UK Industry and Economic Security Minister, Nusrat Ghani, has today announced the creation of a new government unit to “crack down” on companies evading sanctions; the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI). The OTSI will launch in early 2024 once the new legal requirements are in place and will operate alongside the existing work the government is doing to ensure UK trade sanctions are adhered to. The unit will be responsible for civil enforcement of…
On 22 August, it was reported that the UK Government is considering the proscription of the Wagner group as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000. The Wagner group is a collection of individuals and entities globally making up the ‘Wagner Network’, which is engaged in military, economic, political, and influencing operations. They are known for being a private military company. Proscribing Wagner as a terrorist organisation would put it in the same legal…
On December 3, 2022, G7 members formally set the highly anticipated price cap on Russian oil at 60 USD per barrel. This price cap applies to crude oil, petroleum oils, and oils obtained from bituminous minerals which originate in or are exported from Russia. Below we summarize (1) some of the key aspects of the G7’s price cap, and (2) the measures taken to implement the price cap by the EU,US, UK, Japan and Canada.…