On 09 June 2023, the Minister for External Relations (the "Minister") made the Sanctions and Asset-Freezing (Automatic Implementation of UK Sanctions on Belarus) (Jersey) Order 2023 (the "Amendment Order").
The Amendment Order will come into force immediately after midnight on Saturday 10 June 2023.
The Amendment Order will amend the Sanctions and Asset-Freezing (Implementation of External Sanctions) (Jersey) Order 2021 (the "Sanctions Order") to provide for automatic implementation of future amendments, including new prohibitions and obligations, to the UK's Republic of Belarus (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the "UK Belarus Regulations").
On Friday 09 June 2023, the UK Republic of Belarus (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (the "Belarus Amendment") came into force. The Belarus Amendment amended the UK Belarus Regulations.
Detail
If the UK amends the UK Belarus Regulations to add a new prohibition or obligation, then the existing Jersey offence of breaching implemented sanctions provisions (carrying imprisonment for up to 7 years and an unlimited fine) will apply automatically to a breach of that new prohibition or obligation in Jersey.
There will therefore be no need for the Sanctions Order to be amended again to implement new UK prohibitions and obligations made under the UK Belarus Regulations. However, the Minister retains the power to modify or disapply a particular prohibition or obligation by amending the Sanctions Order.
Changes to the UK Belarus Regulations
The Belarus Amendment largely aligns the UK Belarus Regulations to the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the "UK Russia Regulations"). For example, the provisions and designation criteria under the UK Russia Regulations are being extended to the Belarus regime, where appropriate, in a way which reflects the organisational and power structures in Belarus.
Other amendments include the introduction of new trade prohibitions to the Belarus regime. These additions can now be found in Part 5 of the UK Belarus Regulations and include provisions relating to exports to Belarus, imports from Belarus, and provision of internet services to Designated Persons, and all related activity.
The full list of changes can be found within the final text of the Belarus Amendment.
Further information
Additional guidance on sanctions can be found on both the Government of Jersey and Jersey Financial Services Commission websites.
If you have any queries about this notice, please contact sanctions@gov.je.
gov.je