In response to opening the consulate of the Republic of Nicaragua in the temporarily occupied Crimea, on 2 February 2021 the Parliament of Ukraine for the first time in its history approved sectoral sanctions against the Republic of Nicaragua (“Sectoral Sanctions”). The Sectoral Sanctions are effective for a period of five years and include, in particular, the following restrictions: prohibition of export to and import from Nicaragua of coffee, tea, mate tea, spices, fruits, nuts,…
On December 28, 2020, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued a final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) to revise the Country Group designations for Ukraine, Mexico, and Cyprus. BIS has placed these countries’ into more permissive Country Groups due to these countries’ membership in multilateral export control regimes, as well as national security interests and policies compatible with those of the United States. The impact of these changes is…
On July 28, 2020, Draft Bill No. 996800 was introduced in the State Duma of Russia proposing additional Russian countersanctions (“Draft“). The Draft proposes to introduce amendments to the Federal law No. 281-FZ dated December 30, 2006 “On special economic measures and coercive actions” that sets forth the legal framework for the Russian countersanctions regime. The Draft proposes the following principal provisions: Application of the restrictive measures to the entities controlled by the sanctioned persons. These controlled…
On July 1, 2020, the Federal Register published Presidential Proclamation 10053 of June 29, 2020 To Take Certain Actions Under the United States-Mexico–Canada Agreement Implementation Act and for Other Purposes, which modifies the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) – as set forth in Annex I to US International Trade Commission (USITC) Publication 5060 (which is incorporated by reference) to provide generally for the preferential tariff treatment being accorded under the USMCA, to…
On 3 February 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine published its decision (Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1180 dated 4 December 2019 “On Cancellation of the Special Sanctions Imposed under Article 37 of the Law ‘On Foreign Economic Activities’”),cancelling all special economic sanctions imposed by the Ministry of the Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine (MEDT) before 7 February 2019. According to the media post from the Minister…
On 16 December 2019, the Russian Government signed Resolution No. 1685, which expanded an import ban with respect to Ukrainian goods. The list of banned goods initially introduced by Resolution of the Russian Government No. 1716-83 dated 29 December 2018 now includes cornstarch, glucose and fructose, a number of medical goods (such as medical stoppers, hot-water bags, ball syringes), radiators, central-heating boilers and waste paper. These goods are prohibited from entering Russia if they (i) originate from Ukraine, (ii) are supplied from Ukraine, or (iii) have…
On October 25, 2019, USTR announced that President Trump is suspending $1.3 billion in trade preferences for Thailand under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) based on its failure to adequately provide internationally-recognized worker rights. In addition, the President is restoring some GSP benefits for Ukraine following its passage of legislation aimed at addressing shortcomings in its intellectual property (IP) regime. USTR also announced it is opening new GSP eligibility reviews for two countries: South…
On 27 September 2019, theFederal Council announced the opening of consultation proceedings on amendments to the Embargo Act. The changes are intended to ensure that the ban on imports of firearms, weapon components, ammunition and other goods from Russia and Ukraine can continue. In addition, the Federal Council will no longer have to rely on provisions of the Federal Constitution in order to deal with similar cases. According to the announcement: The Ordinance on Measures…
On June 20, 2019, the Russian Prime Minister signed Resolution No. 787-31, introducing changes to Governmental Decree No. 1716-83 dated December 29, 2018 that implemented an import ban with respect to Ukrainian goods (please refer to our previous blog posts of January 18, 2019 and April 23, 2019). Per the changes adopted by Resolution No. 787-31: 1) The import ban does not apply to goods imported to complete customs procedures for processing outside the customs territory and temporary…
Russia has introduced additional sanctions against Ukraine, including banning the export of oil and oil products.
Governmental Resolution No. 460-25, adopted on 18 April 2019 with immediate effect, sets out the following new Russian sanctions on Ukraine: