North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway aligned themselves with the European Union's further sanctions on Belarus, the European Council announced in a July 6 news release. The council expanded its Belarus sanctions regime June 21 to include 78 individuals and seven entities.
The Biden administration is “nearly’ complete with its ongoing sanctions review and expects to put the results out “near the end of the summer,” The Wall Street Journal reported July 5. The review is part of a broader administration effort to move toward multilateral, calibrated measures instead of sweeping, unilateral pressure campaigns, the report said. The White House didn’t comment.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control officially released its Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Directive July 7, outlining restrictions against the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. The directive, issued by OFAC in April (see 2104150019), was part of a broad sanctions package to penalize Russian human rights violations, corruption and election interference activities.
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Although the new administration has made domestic policy and combating the COVID-19 pandemic a priority for President Joe Biden’s first year in office, officials are beginning to prepare behind the scenes for more trade engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, said Kurt Campbell, the White House coordinator for the Indo-Pacific. But Campbell also said traders shouldn’t expect much action on that front this year.
The Swiss Federal Council imposed sanctions on eight individuals and four entities for their roles in the Feb. 1 coup in Myanmar, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said in a July 1 news release. The listings follow the third round of Myanmar sanctions imposed by the European Union and subject the parties to an asset freeze and travel ban. The individuals, all military or government officials, are Soe Htut, Tun Tun Naung, Win Shein, Khin Maung Yi, Tin Aung San, Thida Oo, Aung Lin Tun and Zaw Min Tun, a State Secretariat notice said. The entities are Myanma Gems Enterprise, Myanma Timber Enterprise, Forest Products Joint Venture and Myanmar War Veterans Organization.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation in a June 30 blog post sought to clarify the term “reasonableness in licensing.” When deciding to unfreeze funds subject to sanctions for the payment of professional fees and expenses for legal services, OFSI must consider that those fees are “reasonable.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control will officially remove the International Criminal Court-Related Sanctions Regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations, OFAC said in a notice. The sanctions were originally imposed under the Trump administration but sparked opposition from human rights advocates. President Joe Biden revoked them in April (see 2104020046). The removal takes effect July 6.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on July 2 sanctioned 22 people connected to Myanmar’s military regime. The designations include seven “key members” of the military and 15 of their spouses and adult children. “Today’s action demonstrates that the United States will continue to impose increasing costs on Burma’s military and promote accountability for those responsible for the military coup and ongoing violence, including by targeting sources of revenue for the military and its leaders,” OFAC Director Andrea Gacki said in a statement.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on July 2 removed four entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List. The entries were designated under Iran and nonproliferation sanctions. OFAC didn't immediately provide more information on the removals.