ARTICLE
4 March 2025

HMRC Has Opened 65 Trade Sanctions Investigations Since 2022

DM
Duane Morris LLP

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In a letter written from the UK's HMRC (the body with primary responsibility for the criminal enforcement of trade sanctions) to Parliament's Treasury Select Committee...
United Kingdom International Law

In a letter written from the UK's HMRC (the body with primary responsibility for the criminal enforcement of trade sanctions) to Parliament's Treasury Select Committee, HMRC has provided significant information on its recent enforcement efforts.

Year Number of investigations opened
2021 0
2022 14 (all relating to Russian sanctions)
2023 22 (20 relating to Russian sanctions)
2024 29 (27 relating to Russian sanctions)

Of those 65 investigations, HMRC has confirmed that 30 remain live of which 27 relate to Russian sanctions.

The letter tabulates the six fines imposed to date for breaches of the Russian sanctions, and in relation to the largest single fine of £1,000,000 imposed in August 2023 (see our earlier post), the letter notes that this fine relates to "brokering and technical assistance" and not to an actual export.

HMRC's letter also states that a previously published compound penalty of £1,000 from September 2023 (see our earlier post) was actually for a breach of the UK's Iran sanctions despite being described at the time as "relating to the attempted export of Dual Use goods".

HMRC's letter also states that in October 2024 it referred a case for possible prosecution to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Disclaimer: This Alert has been prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more information, please see the firm's full disclaimer.

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