Britain is considering approving new powers for enforcement of financial sanctions violations, according to a July 15 post on the EU Sanctions blog. The considerations, outlined in the United Kingdom’s 2019-2022 Economic Crime Plan, published in July, could give “private sector supervisors” power to “take enforcement action where there are deficiencies in sanctions implementation,” the post said. The U.K. will also investigate “whether powers to block listings on national security grounds would be appropriate,” the post said.

The United Nations Security Council sanctioned five people for failing to implement certain provisions in the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, the council said in a July 10 press release and statement. The sanctioned people are Ahmed Ag Albachar, Houka Houka Ag Alhousseini, Mahri Sidi Amar Ben Daha, Mohamed Ben Ahmed Mahri and Mohamed Ould Mataly, the council said.

An increasing number of foreign entities are using front companies to evade restrictions placed on them after being added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List, said Kevin Kurland, director of Commerce’s Office of Enforcement Analysis.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Venezuela’s General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence, also known as La Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar (DGCIM), for operating in the country’s military sector, Treasury said in a July 11 press release.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is making a technical correction to its North Korea sanctions regulations, according to a notice scheduled to be published in the Federal Register July 11. The notice adds a word to the text and does not make any regulatory changes.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on three Iran-backed Hizballah and Lebanese government officials who helped “bolster Iran’s malign activities,” Treasury said in a July 9 press release. The announcement came two days after the State Department threatened more Iran sanctions in response to the country breaching the enriched uranium limit set in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (see 1907080019).

Gibraltar Port and Law Enforcement detained and seized a ship it said was violating European Union sanctions against Syria, Gibraltar said in a July 4 press release. Authorities stopped the “super tanker,” Grace 1, after suspecting it was carrying crude oil bound for Syria’s Banyas Oil Refinery Company, which is sanctioned by the EU. Gibraltar later confirmed the ship was "loaded to capacity with crude oil" and was stopped after it entered Gibraltar territorial waters, according to a July 8 press release. Reuters reported the ship is Iranian and flies a Panama flag.

Jersey’s minister for external relations put forth a sanctions law last fall that has been enacted to “preserve Jersey’s power” to impose European Union sanctions after the United Kingdom leaves the EU, according to a press release and a July 3 notice. The law gives Jersey, one of the Channel Islands off the coast of France, the right to impose the same sanctions as under the U.K.’s current regime, including the U.K.’s Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act, after Brexit. The change takes effect July 19, the notice said.

The United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee on Iraq removed sanctions from 13 Iraq entities on its list, according to a July 4 notice and June 28 press release. The move comes just four days after the same committee approved lifting sanctions on 17 separate Iraq entities (see 1906270014).

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Cubametales, Cuba’s state-run oil import-export company, for importing oil from Venezuela, Treasury said in a July 3 press release. In exchange for the oil, Treasury said, Cubametales provides Venezuela and the Nicolas Maduro regime with “defense, intelligence and security assistance.”