Poland has adopted significant amendments to the Act of 13 April 2022 on Special Measures Relative to Counteracting the Support for the Aggression Against Ukraine and Relative to National Security Protection (known as the Polish Sanctions Act) and other related legislation, such as the Act of 16 November 2016 on the National Revenue Administration and the Act of 1 March 2018 on Counteracting Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism.
The main goal of this legislation is to prevent the circumvention of EU Russia sanctions and to update the Polish Sanctions Act in line with current EU regulations.
The amendments will enter into force 14 days after their publication in Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland (Dziennik Ustaw Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), that is on 26 February 2025. However, we note that Polish customs has already been applying certain specific requirements targeting sanctions circumvention.
The main changes of the amendments include the following:
Measures related to the export and transit of restricted goods
A person / entity that either exports goods subject to the EU restrictive measures established in relation to the aggression of Russia on Ukraine to countries at risk of being involved in sanctions circumvention or transits such goods through the territory of Russia or Belarus, will be required to:
- Provide the details of the end-user of the goods;
- Attach to the customs declaration a statement (under pain of criminal liability), indicating that:
- transit through Russia or Belarus is only a part of the route, which commences and concludes outside the territory of Russia and Belarus;
- during the transit of the goods through the territory of Russia or Belarus, the goods will not be subject to resale, processing, storage and services provided by entities subject to the EU restrictive measures; and
- the final destination of the goods is a third country other than Russia or Belarus;
- At the request of the authorities, provide a statement from the manufacturer of the goods that it has taken measures, which can be documented, to determine whether the goods will be used by end users in a manner consistent with EU sanctions; and
- Provide the authorities with a document confirming the customs clearance of the goods from the country of destination within 45 days from the date the goods left the customs territory of the EU.
Measures related to the import of wood and wood products
A person / entity that imports goods classified under Chapter 44 of the Combined Nomenclature (wood, articles of wood, wood charcoal) subject to the EU restrictive measures established in relation to the aggression of Russia on Ukraine from countries at risk of being involved in sanctions circumvention, will need to provide the customs authorities with evidence of the country in which the wood was harvested or the country in which the wood used in the manufacturing of the wood product was harvested. This includes information on the region of harvesting, the details of the wood supplier or details of the manufacturer of the wood product.
Other significant changes
- Imposing criminal and financial liability for violations of specified provisions of the EU sanctions regulations, including a service ban under Article 5n of Regulation 833/2014;
- Introducing the possibility of seizure and forfeiture of goods in the event of certain violations of the restrictive measures;
- Imposing penalties for violations of the above-mentioned new requirements; and
- Extending the scope of competence of the National Revenue Administration in terms of sanctions regulations.
