GovWire

As required by section 43 of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (the Sanctions Act), the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs has provided this guidance to assist in the implementation of, and compliance with, the Haiti (Sanctions) Regulations 2022 (the Regulations), as amended from time to time.

As required by the Sanctions Act, this document contains guidance on the prohibitions and requirements imposed by the Regulations. It additionally provides guidance on best practice for complying with the prohibitions and requirements; the enforcement of them; and circumstances where they do not apply.

This document is intended to be read alongside more detailed sanctions guidance published by departments including the Department for International Trade (DIT), Home Office and HM Treasury through the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI). This document contains links to those key sources of sanctions guidance, which will be regularly maintained and updated on GOV.UK. It is designed to give an overview of the prohibitions and requirements in the Regulations and, where appropriate, direct readers to further detailed guidance. This document is current on the date of publication.

1. Prohibitions and requirements imposed by the Haiti (Sanctions) Regulations 2022

The Regulations impose financial and trade sanctions for the purpose of giving effect to the United Kingdoms obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2653 (2022) (UNSCR 2653).

In order to achieve the stated purpose, the Regulations impose a number of prohibitions and requirements. In order to enforce these, the Regulations establish penalties and offences.

The prohibitions and requirements imposed by the Regulations apply within the territory of the United Kingdom (UK) (including Northern Ireland) and in relation to the conduct of all UK persons wherever they are in the world. UK persons includes British nationals, as well as all bodies incorporated or constituted under the law of any part of the UK. Accordingly, the prohibitions and requirements imposed by the Regulations apply to all companies established in any part of the UK, and they also apply to branches of UK companies operating overseas.

The maritime enforcement powers contained in Part 8 of the Regulations apply in relation to British ships in international or foreign waters, ships without nationality in international waters and foreign ships in international waters.

It is prohibited intentionally to participate in any activities if you know that the object or effect of them is directly or indirectly to circumvent the prohibitions imposed by the Regulations or to enable or facilitate the contravention of those prohibitions.

If you are unclear about any aspects of the Regulations, in particular about whether action you are considering taking could contravene the Regulations, you are advised to seek independent legal advice.

Prohibitions and requirements for the financial and trade sanctions contained in the Regulations are set out below.

1.1 Designation of persons

The Regulations provide that each person for the time being named on the 2653 Sanctions List is a designated person for the purposes of the financial and trade sanctions.

Persons subject to a travel ban under UNSCR 2653 are not captured by the Regulations. For further information, please refer to the Immigration Sanctions section below.

The UK Sanctions List lists the people designated under the Regulations, and details of the sanctions in respect of which they have been designated.

1.2 Financial sanctions

Asset freeze and making available provisions

The Regulations impose financial sanctions through a targeted asset freeze on designated persons and prohibitions on making funds or economic resources available. This involves the freezing of funds and economic resources (non-monetary assets, such as property or vehicles) of designated persons and ensuring that funds and economic resources are not made available to or for the benefit of designated persons, either directly or indirectly.

More information on financial sanctions can be found in the OFSI guidance.

OFSI is the authority responsible for implementing the UKs financial sanctions on behalf of HM Treasury. OFSI helps to ensure that financial sanctions are properly understood, implemented and enforced in the UK. Further information on how OFSI implements financial sanctions can be found on the OFSI pages of GOV.UK.

1.3 Trade sanctions

The Regulations impose trade prohibitions in relation to designated persons. These include prohibitions relating to:

• military goods and military technology (as specified in Schedule 2 to the Export Control Order 2008
• the provision of technical assistance, armed personnel, financial services or funds or associated brokering services, where such provision enables or facilitates the conduct of armed hostilities

Further detail on these trade prohibitions, including key terminology used, is explained below. Please have regard to the relevant legislation which contains full definitions of terms used herein.

Export of goods

The concept of export is set out in customs legislation, but is further detailed in Paragraph 32 of Schedule 1 to the Sanctions Act, which clarifies that export means export from the UK, but does not capture where goods are removed to the Isle of Man from the UK.

The export prohibition in the Regulations covers export to a designated person as well as exports for the benefit of a designated person. This means that, even if the immediate consignee is not a designated person, the prohibition may still apply. Exporters should check the ultimate end use of goods and may contact the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) if they know or think the items may be used by or for the benefit of a designated person.

Supply and delivery of goods

Supply and delivery prohibitions in the Regulations prohibit a person from directly or indirectly supplying or delivering goods from a third country to, or for the benefit of, a designated person. Regulation 16(4) specifies that a third country is a country that is not the UK or the Isle of Man.

Making goods and technology available

Prohibitions in the Regulations on making goods or technology available (e.g. through a sale) includes directly or indirectly making available to, or for the benefit of, a designated person.

Transfer of technology

Prohibitions in the Regulations on the transfer of technology include transfer to, or for the benefit of, a designated person.

The term transfer is defined in Paragraph 37 of Schedule 1 to the Sanctions Act, which states that it means a transfer by any means (or combination of means), including oral communication and the transfer of goods on which the technology is recorded or from which it can be derived, other than the export of such goods.

Where military technology is contained within a good, it would be classified as a military good under the accompanying goods-related provisions. This includes information contained on USB memory devices, laptops, tablets and the like.

Technical assistance

The

View the original news story