On 25 August 2020, the National Sanctions Secretariat, which evolves under the aegis of the Prime Minister's Office of Mauritius, issued guidelines on the implementation of targeted financial sanctions (Guidelines) under the United Nations (Financial Prohibitions, Arms Embargo and Travel Ban) Sanctions Act 2019 (Sanctions Act).
In so doing, the National Sanctions Secretariat aims to assist "reporting persons with the implementation of the restrictive measures, in particular the financial prohibitions prescribed under the Sanctions Act". The phrase 'reporting persons' is a defined term under the Guidelines.
The Guidelines go further and justify the implementation of the measures announced therein as they reiterate the avowed aim of the Mauritian Government to protect its international financial centre from abuse on the part of 'illicit actors engaging in proliferation financing and other proliferation efforts'; the more so that Mauritius is a member of the United Nations and has endorsed the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which requires the member states to implement targeted financial sanctions which specifically address the issue of proliferation financing under Recommendation 7. In May 2019, in an effort to meet its obligations to implement Recommendation 7, the Government of Mauritius enacted the Sanctions Act which provides the legal framework which is required in order to implement the UN sanctions adopted by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
In this regard, the Guidelines caution vigilance both on the part of natural and legal persons in order to ensure that they do not, directly or indirectly, support individuals or organisations which are caught by the UNSC proliferation-related sanctions under the UNSC Resolutions 1718 (2006) and which specifically relate to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, 2231 (2015) and which in turn relate to the Islamic Republic of Iran and their successor resolutions.
Through the National Sanctions Secretariat which was established under the Sanctions Act, the Government of Mauritius is further strengthening its past efforts in order to provide a robust legal framework which is the prerequisite for a healthy international financial centre.
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