European importers obliged to provide the "due diligence" activities for acquisitions of goods from countries subject to restrictive measures

Asignificant part of the goods coming from countries subject to international sanctions (e.g. Russia, Iran, Belarus) are currently subject to restrictions when entering the European Union. However, there are also exceptions for goods that can still be imported even if they are of non-preferential Russian origin (e.g. semi-finished products/raw materials for the steel industry).

The restrictions imposed by the European Union do not stop only at product level (of traded goods), they also extend to the legal entities that trade those goods. For example, even if certain goods of Russian origin could be imported as such on the grounds that the import of such goods is permitted as a rule, according to the TARIC database, importers may be placed in the situation of an import ban on the grounds that the entity that trades is, in turn, subject to sanctions imposed by the European Union.

In such cases, economic operators must ensure that they do not violate the provisions of the EU regulations by which additional sanctions have been established (e.g. freezing of funds and economic resources belonging to the persons/companies on the restricted lists).

For importers to be able to ensure compliance with the obligations regarding the restrictive measures, the European Commission recommends in the guide published in this regard to carry out "due diligence" activities (both at the beginning of the collaboration with a commercial partner and during the commercial relationship - continuous monitoring), leaving at the same time to the discretion of the economic agents how this will be achieved. Importers must collect and analyze the legal, fiscal, financial information of business partners before making imports to ensure that these suppliers or persons who control them directly or indirectly do not appear on the list of international sanctions

How does the above influence the activity of your company?

If you purchase goods from suppliers in countries subject to international sanctions, it is possible that they and/or the persons who exercise control over them may be subject to restrictive measures. As a result, to avoid unwanted fines and sanctions, we recommend checking in advance the potentially applicable restrictive measures.

Romania punishes non-compliance with international sanctions with fines from Ron 10,000 to Ron 30,000, as well as seizure of assets. They can also apply complementary sanctions, such as suspending the importer's activity for a period between 1-6 months.

EY Romania team dedicated to international trade can offer you services for prior verification of sanctions and due diligence.

EY team is available for more information on the above.