Update: UK bans ‘rubber’ imports from Belarus
5 Jul 2023
Builds on existing measures to block import and export of goods worth around £60 million
London – The UK government has included ‘rubber’ imports in a new set of sanctions against the Belarusian regime for “continuing to actively facilitate” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The ban on imports of ‘rubber’, gold, cement, wood, builds on measures introduced last July to prevent the import and export of goods worth around £60 million from Belarus.
These products are sources of revenue for the Lukashenko regime, said an 8 June statement from the UK’s foreign, commonwealth & development office.
The UK, it added, is also “coming down hard on sanctions evaders; closing loopholes... [that] undermine attempts to build global resilience to Western sanctions.”
The UK foreign office has confirmed details of the 'rubber imports' covered by the ban as 'new pneumatic tyres, of rubber', classified under commodity code 4011.
The official document, however, also references 'machinery for working rubber or plastics or for the manufacture of products from these materials'.
Moulds for rubber or plastics and equipment for calendering or other rolling machines and for extruding also appear on the list of items covered by the latest sanctions.
