Central African Republic Sanctions Update

Summary#

These are final amendments to the Regulations Implementing the United Nations Resolutions on the Central African Republic. They update Canada’s sanctions rules to reflect recent United Nations Security Council decisions and took effect on June 1, 2020.

What it does#

• Updates definitions and adds new ones (for example, a new definition of “armed mercenary” and of “military activities”).
• Strengthens and clarifies the asset-freeze rules by prohibiting dealing with property owned or controlled by a “designated person.”
• Keeps and expands an arms embargo: it bans exporting or supplying arms and related material to the Central African Republic (CAR) and bans providing technical or financial help related to arms.
• Prohibits providing support for military activities in the CAR and the provision of armed mercenaries.
• Stops Canadian vessels and Canadian-registered aircraft from carrying arms destined for the CAR.
• Creates several targeted exceptions, including for:
  • non-lethal military equipment sent for humanitarian or protective use (with advance notice to the UN committee);
  • protective clothing for UN personnel, media, and humanitarian workers;
  • support for MINUSCA (the UN peacekeeping mission), European Union training missions, French forces, and other international forces if the UN committee is notified;
  • limited supplies of small arms for specific patrols and wildlife rangers with advance notice;
  • supplies to CAR security forces for security-sector reform, either with advance notice (for small-calibre items) or with advance approval (for other arms).
• Requires certain financial and regulated institutions to watch for and identify assets that belong to designated people.
• Requires anyone (including Canadians abroad) who discovers property they think belongs to a designated person to report it without delay to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) or to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
• Sets rules for applying for exemptions or certificates to allow otherwise prohibited transactions (for example, to pay basic expenses or to honour contracts made before a designation).
• Adds processes for handling mistaken identity claims and allows officials to share personal information with the UN or its bodies when needed to enforce the rules.

Who's affected#

• Financial institutions and banks operating in Canada (they must check for frozen assets).
• Insurance, trust, loan, securities and investment firms listed in the rules (obligations to monitor accounts and disclose).
• Exporters, shipping companies, aircraft operators, and anyone who trades or transports military goods or related services.
• Humanitarian organizations, media, UN personnel, and development workers who may ship protective or non-lethal equipment to the CAR (specific exceptions apply).
• International forces and missions working in the CAR, such as MINUSCA and EU training missions.
• People and entities designated by the UN Security Council’s sanctions committee, and those who might deal with them.
• Canadian law-enforcement and border agencies enforcing the rules, including the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency.

Why it matters#

• These changes make Canada’s domestic rules match new UN Security Council decisions about sanctions on the Central African Republic.
• Businesses that handle international payments, exports, shipping or defence-related goods need to update compliance checks to avoid fines or criminal penalties (the law sets penalties up to $100,000, 1 year on summary conviction, or up to 10 years on indictment).
• Humanitarian and peacekeeping actors get clearer rules on what protective and non-lethal items can be sent to the CAR and when they must notify or get approval from the UN committee.
• The rules aim to stop weapons and support for armed groups while still allowing legitimate international and humanitarian activity, but they also increase reporting and approval steps for some transfers.