On February 20, 2025, the US Department of State designated several international cartels and transnational criminal organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (“FTOs”) pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (“SDGTs”) pursuant to Executive Order (“EO”) 13224. These parties have been designated for “threaten[ing] the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere,”…
As announced in its press release, on 24 February 2025, exactly three years after Russia invaded Ukraine, the EU published its 16th package of sanctions against Russia in the Official Journal. The package entered into force on 25 February 2025. The EU also introduced new measures against Belarus and Crimea and Sevastopol and certain non-Government controlled areas of Ukraine, largely aligning with the Russia sanctions measures. Aside from additional designated person listings, this latest package…
On 24 February 2025, the third anniversary of Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine, the UK Government announced 107 new designations targeting individuals, businesses (including several state-owned entities), government officials and vessels in what it labelled its most extensive set of sanctions against Russia since the start of the invasion. According to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (“FCDO”) press release, this package is aimed at weakening Russia’s military supply chains, revenues fuelling the war…
Baker McKenzie’s Canadian international trade and customs team is publishing a series of articles reviewing 2024 trade and customs compliance developments and looking ahead to 2025’s burgeoning issues. This article focuses on Canadian legislative and enforcement developments in Canada’s sanctions regime. In 2024, the Government began to lay the foundation for significant changes to the enforcement architecture of Canada’s sanctions regime. In July 2024, the Government introduced amendments, some of which came into force in…