The Venezuela (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2018 (S.I. 2018/179)

Summary

This UK Order in Council extends European Union sanctions on Venezuela to specified British Overseas Territories, including asset freezes on designated persons and restrictions on arms, military-related goods, internal-repression equipment and surveillance technology. It creates criminal offences for dealing with frozen funds or economic resources, or for supplying restricted goods and services to Venezuela, and imposes reporting duties on financial institutions.

• Asset freeze: It is an offence to deal with funds or economic resources belonging to a designated person, or to make funds or economic resources available to or for the benefit of a designated person, if the person knows or has reasonable cause to suspect this.
• Arms and military-related restrictions: Offences apply to selling, supplying, exporting or providing technical assistance, brokering, financing or financial assistance relating to arms and related materiel or military activities involving Venezuela, subject to a grandfathering exemption for pre-13 November 2017 contracts notified to the Governor before 16 March 2018.
• Internal repression and surveillance equipment: Similar offences apply to equipment that might be used for internal repression and to surveillance equipment/services, with related exemptions.
• Reporting duty on relevant institutions: A relevant institution must inform the Governor as soon as practicable if it knows or suspects a customer is a designated person or has committed a freezing-related offence, and must provide specified identifying and transaction information.
• Enforcement powers: The Schedule confers search, seizure and boarding powers on authorised officers in relation to ships, aircraft and vehicles suspected of carrying restricted goods.

The Order applies to persons and bodies within the Territory, British citizens/subjects ordinarily resident there, bodies incorporated under Territory law, and persons on Territory-registered ships or aircraft. It came into force on 8 March 2018 and gives the Governor power to license otherwise-prohibited activities in line with EU sanctions exemptions.

Key obligations

• Relevant institutions must inform the Governor as soon as practicable if they know or suspect a customer is a designated person or has committed an offence under article 4 or 11(10)
• When reporting, a relevant institution must state the basis for its knowledge or suspicion, identifying information about the customer, and (if the customer is a designated person) the nature and amount of funds or economic resources held for that customer since designation
• A relevant institution must inform the Governor as soon as practicable if it credits a frozen account under the permitted exceptions in article 5(1)(b), (c) or (2)
• Persons must not deal with, or make available, funds or economic resources belonging to or for the benefit of a designated person
• Persons must not sell, supply, transfer, export, or provide technical assistance, brokering services or financing relating to arms and related materiel, military activities, internal-repression equipment or surveillance equipment/services in connection with Venezuela, except under specified exemptions
• Persons relying on the pre-13 November 2017 contract exemption for arms/military-related restrictions must notify the Governor or a competent authority of the contract before 16 March 2018

Applies to

relevant institutions (deposit-taking institutions), persons in the Territory, British citizens, British overseas territories citizens and related British nationals ordinarily resident in the Territory, bodies incorporated or constituted under the law of the Territory, owners, masters, operators, drivers and charterers of ships, aircraft and vehicles registered in or chartered within the Territory, designated persons

Deadlines

• 8th March 2018: Order comes into force
• before 16th March 2018: Deadline for notifying the Governor or a competent authority of a pre-13 November 2017 contract in order to rely on the exemption for arms and related materiel or military activities restrictions

Related documents

• The Sanctions (Overseas Territories) (Revocations) Order 2020 repeals this document