On April 13, 2017, the Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced that Canada is repealing its sanctions against Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia under the United Nations Act.
On November 4, 2016, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published in the Federal Register a final rule removing from the Code of Federal Regulations the Former Liberian Regime of Charles Taylor Sanctions Regulations as a result of the termination of the national emergency on which the regulations were based. OFAC also is amending the Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations and Appendix A to chapter V by making technical changes including to remove references to OFAC’s fax-on-demand service in order to reflect the discontinuation of that service.
On November 4, 2016, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published in the Federal Register a final rule [Docket No. 160810723-6723-01] that amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement changes in controls on arms and related materiel to Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. BIS also updates the EAR to recognize the accession of India as a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
On September 29, 2016, the Department of State published in the Federal Register an interim final rule [Public Notice: 9602] amending the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to designate Tunisia as a major non-NATO ally (MNNA); reorganize the content in several paragraphs to clarify the intent of the ITAR; update defense trade policy regarding Eritrea, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, and Côte d’Ivoire to reflect resolutions adopted by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC); update defense trade policy regarding Sri Lanka to reflect the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016; and update defense trade policy regarding Vietnam to reflect a determination made by the Secretary of State.
On 14 July 2016, the WTO announced that Liberia had joined the WTO as its 163rd member, after nearly 10 years of negotiating its accession terms with WTO members. Liberia is the eighth least-developed country (LDC) to accede to the WTO through negotiations. The announcement said:
The 30-day countdown to Liberia’s WTO membership was activated when Liberia’s Minister for Commerce and Industry, Axel Addy, handed to the WTOthe instrument of acceptance of Liberia’s Protocol of Accession on 14 June 2016
In accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2288 (2016) of 25 May 2016, the Federal Council has decided to repeal the ordinance on measures against Liberia. The Swiss government announced that the repeal came into force at 6 pm on 6 July 2016. The announcement said: Welcoming the steady progress made by the Liberian government in rebuilding the country, the United Nations Security Council took the decision, set out in Resolution 2288 (2016) of 25…
On 25 May 2016, the UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted Resolution 2288 (2016), which terminated, with immediate effect, the measures on arms, previously imposed by paragraph 2 of Resolution 1521 (2003) and modified by paragraphs 1 and 2 of Resolution 1683 (2006), by paragraph 1 (b) of Resolution 1731 (2006), by paragraphs 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Resolution 1903 (2009), by paragraph 3 of Resolution 1961 (2010), and by paragraph 2 (b) of…
On 16 December 2015 the WTO announced that the 10th Ministerial Conference welcomed Liberia’s accession package and membership in the WTO. Liberia will bring the number of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in the WTO to 35 — more than a fifth of the WTO membership. On 17 December 2015, the WTO announced that the 10th Ministerial Conference had approved the accession package for Afghanistan. For Afghanistan, this is the culmination of an almost 11-year long process…
On 17 December 2015, at the 10th Ministerial Conference, the WTO announced that it has received six additional ratifications for the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), bringing up to 63 the number of WTO members that have formally accepted the TFA. Several ratifications were submitted by ministers during the organization’s Tenth Ministerial Conference in Nairobi. The six are: Myanmar (Burma), Norway, Viet Nam, Brunei, Zambia and Ukraine.
On November 16, 2015, the Federal Register published Executive Order 13710 of November 12, 2015 – Termination of Emergency With Respect to the Actions and Policies of Former Liberian President Charles Taylor terminating the national emergency first declared in Executive Order 13348 of July 22, 2004, with respect to the actions and policies of former Liberian President Charles Taylor and other persons, in particular their unlawful depletion of Liberian resources and their removal from Liberia…