The Republic of Belarus (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2023

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations are made under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (c. 13) to amend the Republic of Belarus (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/600) (“the 2019 Regulations”).

Regulation 3 amends Part 1 of the 2019 Regulations to include a definition of OFCOM.

Regulations 4 and 5 amend Part 2 of the 2019 Regulations. Regulation 4 confers on the Secretary of State the power to designate a person for the purposes of new regulation 27P.

Regulation 5 clarifies when a person may be involved in “conduct destabilising Ukraine or undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine” or “obtaining a benefit from or supporting the Government of Belarus through carrying on a relevant business activity” for the purposes of the designation criteria, by including holding the right to nominate a director or relevant entities and a list of people who work for, or are affiliated to, the Government of Belarus. That regulation also clarifies when a person may be considered to be a member of, or associated with, an involved person for the purposes of the designation criteria. This includes a list of immediate family members.

Regulation 6 amends Part 3 of the 2019 Regulations to limit the funds that Belarus can raise by restricting its access to the UK securities.

Regulations 7 to 10 amend Part 5 of the 2019 Regulations relating to trade, and insert new Schedules. New restrictions are imposed in relation to trade in—

• banknotes;

• chemical and biological weapons-related goods and technology (as specified in new Schedule 2H);

• machinery-related goods and technology (as specified in new Schedule 2I);

• gold, gold jewellery and relevant processed gold (as specified in new Schedule 2J);

• cement, rubber and wood products (as specified in new Schedule 2J);

• internet services (as specified in new Chapter 2D of Part 5).

Regulation 7 inserts new definitions of the goods and services listed above for the purposes of Part 5 of the 2019 Regulations;

Regulation 8 extends the prohibitions in Chapter 2 of Part 5 of the 2019 Regulations relating to exports to Belarus and related activities relating to banknotes, chemical and biological weapons-related goods and technology and machinery-related goods and technology and makes consequential amendments;

Regulation 9 extends the prohibitions in Chapter 2B of Part 5 of the 2019 Regulations relating to imports from Belarus and related activities relating to gold, gold jewellery, relevant processed gold, cement, rubber and wood products and makes consequential amendments;

Regulation 10 creates new regulation 27P of the 2019 Regulations and requires providers of social media services, internet access services (i.e. internet service providers) and application stores to take reasonable steps to prevent their users in the United Kingdom from encountering or accessing online content generated by designated persons. Failure to comply with a requirement imposed under new regulation 27P is a criminal offence.

Regulations 11-14 amend Part 6 of the 2019 Regulations to create exceptions to some of the new prohibitions.

Regulations 15-17 confer on OFCOM the power to request a person to provide information for the purpose of monitoring compliance with or detecting evasion of new regulation 27P and make consequential amendments.

Regulations 18. 19 and 21 confer on OFCOM the power to impose civil monetary penalties, of up to £1,000,000, in relation to a failure to comply with a requirement imposed under new regulation 27P or a failure to comply with any request for information or documents. New regulation 56B sets out the procedure for imposing such a penalty. They also make consequential amendments.

Regulation 20 amends regulation 53 so that certain “relevant offences” may only be investigated by HM Revenue and Customs following a referral by either a Secretary of State, the Treasury or OFCOM.

A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector has been published alongside these Regulations and is available from legislation.gov.uk or from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH.