Council Regulation (EC) No 329/2007 of 27 March 2007 concerning restrictive measures against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Article 1

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

‘Sanctions Committee’ means: the Committee of the UN Security Council which was established pursuant to paragraph 12 of UN Security Council Resolution 1718 (2006);
‘North Korea’ means the Democratic People's Republic of Korea;
‘technical assistance’ means any technical support related to repairs, development, manufacture, assembly, testing, maintenance, or any other technical service, and may take forms such as instruction, advice, training, transmission of working knowledge or skills or consulting services; including verbal forms of assistance;
‘funds’ means financial assets and benefits of every kind, including but not limited to:
1. cash, cheques, claims on money, drafts, money orders and other payment instruments;
2. deposits with financial institutions or other entities, balances on accounts, debts and debt obligations;
3. publicly- and privately-traded securities and debt instruments, including stocks and shares, certificates representing securities, bonds, notes, warrants, debentures and derivatives contracts;
4. interest, dividends or other income on or value accruing from or generated by assets;
5. credit, right of set-off, guarantees, performance bonds or other financial commitments;
6. letters of credit, bills of lading, bills of sale; and
7. documents evidencing an interest in funds or financial resources;
‘freezing of funds’ means preventing any moving, transfer, alteration, use of, access to, or dealing with funds in any way that would result in any change in their volume, amount, location, ownership, possession, character, destination or other change that would enable the use of the funds, including portfolio management;
‘economic resources’ means assets of every kind, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, actual or potential, which are not funds but can be used to obtain funds, goods or services, including vessels, such as maritime vessels;
‘freezing of economic resources’ means preventing the use of economic resources to obtain funds, goods or services in any way, including, but not limited to, by selling, hiring or mortgaging them;
‘territory of the Union’ means the territories of the Member States to which the Treaty is applicable, under the conditions laid down in the Treaty, including their airspace;
‘brokering services’ means:
1. the negotiation or arrangement of transactions for the purchase, sale or supply of goods and technology or of financial and technical services, including from a third country to any other third country; or
2. the selling or buying of goods and technology or of financial and technical services, including where they are located in third countries for their transfer to another third country;
‘investment services’ means the following services and activities:
1. reception and transmission of orders in relation to one or more financial instruments;
2. execution of orders on behalf of clients;
3. dealing on own account;
4. portfolio management;
5. investment advice;
6. underwriting of financial instruments and/or placing of financial instruments on a firm-commitment basis;
7. placing of financial instruments without a firm-commitment basis;
8. any service in relation to the admission to trading on a regulated market or trading on a multilateral trading facility;
‘transfer of funds’ means:
1. any transaction carried out on behalf of a payer through a payment service provider by electronic means, with a view to making funds available to a payee at a payment service provider, irrespective of whether the payer and the payee are the same person;
2. any transaction by non-electronic means, such as in cash, cheques or accountancy orders, with a view to making funds available to a payee irrespective of whether the payer and the payee are the same person;
‘payee’ means a natural or legal person that is the intended recipient of transferred funds;
‘payer’ means a person that holds a payment account and allows a transfer of funds from that payment account, or, where there is no payment account, that gives a transfer-of-funds order;
‘payment service provider’ means the categories of payment service provider referred to in Article 1(1) of Directive 2007/64/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽¹⁾, natural or legal persons benefiting from a waiver pursuant to Article 26 of Directive 2007/64/EC and legal persons benefiting from a waiver pursuant to Article 9 of Directive 2009/110/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽²⁾, providing transfer-of-funds services.

Article 2

It shall be prohibited:

to sell, supply, transfer or export, directly or indirectly, the goods and technology, including software, listed in Annexes I, Ia, Ib and Ig, whether or not originating in the Union, to any natural or legal person, entity or body in, or for use in North Korea;
to sell, supply, export or transfer aviation fuel as listed in Annex Ie to North Korea or transport to North Korea aviation fuel on board the flag vessels or aircraft of Member States, whether or not originating in the territories of Member States;
to participate, knowingly and intentionally, in activities the object or effect of which is to circumvent the prohibitions referred to in points (a) and (b).

Annex I shall include all items, materials, equipment, goods and technology, including software, which are dual-use items or technology as defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009⁽³⁾.

Annex Ia shall include other items, materials, equipment, goods and technology which could contribute to North Korea's nuclear-related, other weapons of mass destruction-related or ballistic missile-related programmes.

Annex Ib shall include certain key components for the ballistic missile sector.

Annex Ie shall include the aviation fuel referred to in paragraph 1(b).

Annex Ig shall include weapons-of-mass-destruction-related items, materials, equipment, goods and technology identified and designated as sensitive goods, pursuant to paragraph 25 of UN Security Council Resolution 2270 (2016).

It shall be prohibited to purchase, import or transport the goods and technology listed in Annexes I, Ia, Ib and Ig from North Korea, whether or not the item concerned originates in North Korea.

It shall be prohibited to:

import, purchase or transfer gold, titanium ore, vanadium ore and rare-earth minerals, as listed in Annex Ic, or coal, iron and iron ore, as listed in Annex Id, from North Korea, whether or not originating in North Korea;
import, purchase or transfer from North Korea petroleum products, as listed in Annex If, whether or not originating in North Korea;
participate, knowingly and intentionally, in activities the object or effect of which is to circumvent the prohibitions referred to in points (a) and (b).

Annex Ic shall include gold, titanium ore, vanadium ore and rare-earth minerals referred to in point (a) of paragraph 4.

Annex Id shall include coal, iron and iron ore referred to in point (a) of paragraph 4.

Annex If shall include the petroleum products referred to in point (b) of paragraph 4.

By way of derogation from paragraph 4(a), the relevant competent authority of the Member State, as identified on the websites listed in Annex II, may authorise:

the purchase, import or transfer of coal provided that the competent authority of the Member State, as identified on the websites listed in Annex II, has determined on the basis of credible information that the shipment originated outside of North Korea and was transported through North Korea solely for export from the Port of Rajin (Rason), that the relevant Member State has notified the Sanctions Committee in advance of such transactions, and that the transactions are unrelated to generating revenue for North Korea's nuclear or ballistic missile programmes or other activities prohibited by UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), 2087 (2013), 2094 (2013) or 2270 (2016) or by this Regulation; or
transactions that are determined to be exclusively for livelihood purposes and unrelated to generating revenue for North Korea's nuclear or ballistic missile programmes or other activities prohibited by UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), 2087 (2013), 2094 (2013) or 2270 (2016) or by this Regulation.

The prohibition referred to in paragraph 1(b) shall not apply with respect to the sale or supply of aviation fuel to civilian passenger aircraft outside North Korea exclusively for consumption during its flight to North Korea and its return to the airport of origin.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1(b), the relevant competent authority of the Member State, as identified on the websites listed in Annex II, may authorise the sale, supply or transfer of an item, provided that the Member State has obtained the advance approval of the Sanctions Committee on an exceptional case-by-case basis of the transfer to North Korea of such products for verified essential humanitarian needs and subject to specified arrangements for effective monitoring of delivery and use.

The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any authorisation granted under paragraph 5 or 7.

Article 2a

It shall be prohibited to sell, supply, transfer or export, directly or indirectly, to North Korea any item, except food or medicine, if the exporter knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that:

the item is destined directly or indirectly for North Korea's armed forces; or
the export of the item could support or enhance the operational capabilities of the armed forces of a State other than North Korea.

It shall be prohibited to purchase, import or transport from North Korea items referred to in paragraph 1 if the importer or transporter knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that the ground in point (a) or (b) of that paragraph exists.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the relevant competent authority of the Member State, as identified on the websites listed in Annex II, may authorise the sale, supply, transfer or export of an item to North Korea, or the purchase, import or transport of an item from North Korea, where:

the item does not relate to the production, development, maintenance or use of military goods, or development or the maintenance of military personnel, and the competent authority has determined that the item would not directly contribute to the development of the operational capabilities of North Korea's armed forces or to exports that support or enhance the operational capabilities of armed forces of a State other than North Korea;
the Sanctions Committee has determined on a case-by-case basis that a particular supply, sale or transfer would not be contrary to the objectives of UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), 2087 (2013), 2094 (2013) or 2270 (2016); or
the competent authority of the Member State is satisfied that the activity is excusively for either humanitarian or livelihood purposes which will not be used by North Korean persons, entities or bodies to generate revenue, and is not related to any activity prohibited by UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), 2087 (2013), 2094 (2013) or 2270 (2016), provided that the Member State notifies the Sanctions Committee in advance of such a determination and informs the Sanctions Committee of measures taken to prevent the diversion of the item for any prohibited purpose.

The Member State concerned shall notify the other Member States and the Commission of its intention to grant an authorisation under this Article at least one week prior to granting the authorisation.

Article 3

It shall be prohibited:

to provide, directly or indirectly, technical assistance and brokering services related to goods and technology listed in the EU Common List of Military Equipment or in Annexes I, Ia, Ib and Ig and to the provision, manufacture, maintenance and use of goods listed in the EU Common List of Military Equipment or in Annexes I, Ia, Ib and Ig to any natural or legal person, entity or body in, or for use in, North Korea;
to provide, directly or indirectly, financing or financial assistance related to goods and technology listed in the EU Common List of Military Equipment or in Annexes I, Ia, Ib and Ig, including in particular grants, loans and export credit insurance, as well as insurance and reinsurance, for any sale, supply, transfer or export of such items, or for any provision of related technical assistance to any natural or legal person, entity or body in, or for use in, North Korea;
to obtain, directly or indirectly, technical assistance related to goods and technology listed in the EU Common List of Military Equipment or in Annexes I, Ia, Ib and Ig, and to the provision, manufacture, maintenance and use of goods listed in the EU Common List of Military Equipment or in Annexes I, Ia, Ib and Ig from any natural or legal person, entity or body in, or for use in, North Korea;
to obtain, directly or indirectly, financing or financial assistance related to goods and technology listed in the EU Common List of Military Equipment or in Annexes I, Ia, Ib and Ig, including in particular grants, loans and export credit insurance, for any sale, supply, transfer or export of such items, or for any provision of related technical assistance from any natural or legal person, entity or body in, or for use in, North Korea;
to participate, knowingly and intentionally, in activities, the object or effect of which is to circumvent the prohibitions referred to in points (a), (b), (c) and (d).

The prohibitions set out in paragraph 1 shall not apply to non-combat vehicles which have been manufactured or fitted with materials to provide ballistic protection, intended solely for protective use of personnel of the EU and its Member States in North Korea.

Article 3a

By way of derogation from Article 2(1) and Article 3(1), the relevant competent authority of a Member State, as indicated on the websites listed in Annex II, may authorise, under such terms and conditions as it deems appropriate, the direct or indirect supply, sale, transfer or export of the items and technology, including software, referred to in Article 2(1) or the assistance or brokering services referred to in Article 3(1), provided that the goods and technology, assistance or brokering services are for food, agricultural, medical or other humanitarian purposes.

The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission, within four weeks, of authorisations granted pursuant to this Article.

By way of derogation from point (a) of Article 2(1) and points (a) and (b) of Article 3(1), the relevant competent authority of the Member State, as indicated on the websites listed in Annex II, may authorise the transactions referred to therein under such conditions as it deems appropriate and provided that the UN Security Council has approved the request.

The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any request for approval which it has submitted to the UN Security Council pursuant to paragraph 3.