Her Majesty's Treasury on Tuesday issued a notice summarizing the effects of Council Regulation (EU) No 1332/2013, which amends Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012, which is the regulation controlling the EU's Syrian sanctions program.
The amendments:
New licensing grounds inserted into Regulation 36/2012
The Amending Regulation adds a new Article 21c to Regulation 36/2012 in relation tothe Commercial Bank of Syria. Article 21c allows competent authorities to authorisetransfers of funds or economic resources where the transfer is related to a paymentdue in connection with a specific trade contract for medical supplies, food, shelter,sanitation or hygiene for civilian use provided that the transfer is by or through theCommercial Bank of Syria.
This new provision applies to funds currently in the EU, which arrived in the EU afterthe Commercial Bank of Syria was designated and which are frozen under Article 14. Italso allows new funds to be transferred into the EU for this specific purpose.
It does not apply to funds which were held by the Commercial Bank of Syria in the EUand frozen at the time they were designated.
The Amending Regulation adds a new licensing ground to Article 16 of Regulation36/2012 by inserting a new paragraph (h). Under this new licensing ground,competent authorities may authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economicresources, or the making available of certain funds or economic resources, under suchconditions as they deem appropriate, after having determined that the funds oreconomic resources are necessary for evacuations from Syria.
Replacement of “humanitarian” licensing ground in Article 16 of Regulation 36/2012
The Amending Regulation replaces the “humanitarian” licensing ground in Article16(f) of Regulation 36/2012. Under this licensing ground, competent authorities nowmay authorise the release of certain frozen funds or economic resources, or the makingavailable of certain funds or economic resources, under such conditions as they deemappropriate, after having determined that the funds or economic resources arenecessary for humanitarian purposes, such as delivering or facilitating the delivery ofassistance, including medical supplies, food, humanitarian workers and relatedassistance, and provided that, in the case of release of frozen funds or economicresources, the funds or economic resources are released to the UN for the purpose ofdelivering or facilitating the delivery of assistance in Syria in accordance with the SyriaHumanitarian Assistance Response Plan (SHARP).
The Amending Regulation inserts a new Article, 16a, into Regulation 36/2012, whichstates that authorisations granted under Article 16(f) before 15 December 2013 shallnot be affected by the replacement of Article 16(f) by the Amending Regulation. Article16a also provides that requests for authorisations under Article 16(f) made before 15December 2013 shall be considered withdrawn unless the person, entity of bodyconfirms its intention to maintain the request after that date.
Links:
Council Regulation (EU) No 1332/2013
Posted with BlogsyFiled under: EU Updates, HMT Updates, Sanctions Programs, Syrian Sanctions
