On January 8, 2018, the Department of the Treasury published a current list of countries which require or may require participation in, or cooperation with, an international boycott (within the meaning of section 999(b)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986).
On 17 July 2017, The European Council (the “Council“) added a further 16 persons to the list of persons targeted by EU’s Syrian sanctions regime. These persons include 8 scientists and 8 high ranking military officials, each involved in the development and use of chemical weapons against the Syrian civilian population.
On May 26, 2017, the Department of State published in the Federal Register a determination and certification [Public Notice: 10006] to Congress that the following countries are not cooperating fully with United States antiterrorism efforts: Eritrea, Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea), Syria and Venezuela The determination and certification were made under section 40A of the Arms Export Control Act.
On May 10, 2017, the Federal Register published Presidential Notice of May 9, 2017 – Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to the Actions of the Government of Syria, which extends the national emergency with respect to the actions of Syria for an additional year.
On April 24, 2017, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action in response to the April 4, 2017 sarin attack on innocent civilians in Khan Sheikhoun, Syria, by the al Assad regime.
On April 20, 2017, one week after the last amendments (see below), the Government of Canada has further amended its sanctions against Syria, which are contained in the Special Economic Measures (Syria) Regulations (the “Regulations”) made pursuant to the Special Economic Measures Act.
On April 14, 2017, Global Affairs Canada announced new sanctions against the Assad regime. Canada’s Special Economic Measures (Syria) Regulations have been amended to list 27 additional individuals who are now subject to an asset freeze and dealings prohibition.
On March 30, 2017, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury), in accordance with section 999(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, published in the Federal Register a current list of countries
On 10 March 2017, the Federal Council announced that it had lifted selected sanctions against Syria, following the EU decision to facilitate the purchase and financing of petroleum products for humanitarian organisations operating in Syria. The change came into effect on 10 March 2017 at 6.00 pm. The announcement stated:
On January 12, 2017, the Treasury Department announced that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is taking action in response to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) – United Nations (UN) Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) findings that the Syrian regime used industrial chlorine as a weapon against its own people.