On 16 January 2016, the Council of the European Union announced that it had noted that the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) had presented a report to the IAEA Board of Governors and to the United Nations Security Council confirming that Iran had taken the measures specified in paragraphs 15.1 to 15.11 of Annex V to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
16 January 2016 is therefore “Implementation Day”, being the day on which sanctions imposed on Iran by the EU in connection with its nuclear programme would be lifted, amended or suspended in accordance with the JCPOA.
As a result, on that date the European Union (Iran Sanctions) (Proliferation) (Amendment) (No. 3) Order 2015 [SD 2015/0372] came fully into operation, giving effect to Council Regulation (EU) No 2015/1861 in the Island and making the appropriate changes to sanctions imposed under Island law.
Information on the effect of the changes to the sanctions regime is available from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/doing-business-with-iran
Note that some prohibitions and restrictions will remain in place, such as on the export to Iran, or import from Iran, of goods and technology on the EU Common Military List and related services, technical and financial, and that normal export and trade control licensing requirements will exist, and licences will continue to be required for the export to, or import from, Iran of dual-use items and other controlled goods including those related to nuclear programmes and use.
Some persons, entities and organisations will remain subject to sanctions, including an asset freeze and a prohibition on making funds available to them. However, the general requirements for obtaining prior authorisation, or providing prior notification, for the transfer of funds to and from Iran and Iranian persons no longer apply.
You should also note that not all US sanctions have been lifted (and, in fact, additional measures were imposed on 17 January 2016 in retaliation for a recent ballistic missile test), in particular those imposed for reasons of human rights violations and alleged support of terrorism.
Further guidance on the effect of the lifting of certain US sanctions may be found at – https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/implement_guide_JCPOA.pdf
The JCPOA provides for the re-imposition of some or all sanctions (under the so-called “snap back”) in the event of any significant non-performance of commitments made by Iran.
The detailed guidance on Iran sanctions on the Customs and Excise webpages will be updated in due course.
For more information contact Customs and Excise
