The Democratic Republic of the Congo (Restrictive Measures)(Overseas Territories)(Amendment) Order 2012 - Advisory Warning No. 9 of 2013 (2013-03-13)

Summary

This is an Advisory Warning issued by the BVI Financial Services Commission notifying the public that a UK Order extending and amending sanctions measures relating to the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been ratified and extended to the British Virgin Islands. It is informational, alerting readers to a change in the international sanctions regime rather than imposing new FSC-specific compliance procedures.

• What happened: On 7 February 2013 the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Restrictive Measures)(Overseas Territories)(Amendment) Order 2012 (UKSI 2012 No. 2750) was ratified and extended to the BVI, amending the 2003 Order that originally applied UN and EU sanctions measures on the DRC to the Overseas Territories.
• Substantive change: The amendment narrows the existing arms embargo, giving effect to UN Security Council Resolution 1807 (2008) and EU Council Decision 2010/788, so that prohibitions now apply to the supply or export of arms and related material, and to the provision of assistance, advice or training for military activities, only to non-governmental persons in the DRC.
• Other changes: The amendment also adds definitions of financing and financial assistance and technical assistance, and updates the definition of restricted goods.

The notice does not create new filing or reporting duties for FSC-regulated entities; it directs readers to the underlying UK legislation and UN/EU resolutions for the full legal text of the sanctions measures.