On Monday 26 February, the Council tightened its restrictive measures against North Korea by finalising transposition into EU law of the measures imposed by the UN Security Council Resolution 2397 (2017) on 22 December 2017 in relation to that country’s nuclear and ballistic missile activities.
The transposed measures include the strengthening of the export ban to North Korea of all refined petroleum products by reducing the number of barrels that may be exported from 2 million barrels to 500,000 barrels per year. On 16 October of last year, the EU introduced a complete ban on crude oil exports in anticipation of the decision on Resolution 2397.
A ban has been placed on imports of food and agricultural products, machinery, electrical equipment, earth and stone, and wood from North Korea and exports to it of all industrial machinery, transportation vehicles, and expansion to all iron, steel and other metals.
Vessels, where there are reasonable grounds for believing that there has been involvement in breaching UN sanctions, will face further maritime restrictive measures.
Lastly, all North Korean workers working abroad must be repatriated within 24 months, subject to applicable national and international law.
The legal acts adopted also took into account of the fact that three persons and one entity listed by the EU autonomously were now listed by the UN. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)