About us
The Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI), part of the Department for Business and Trade, was launched in October 2024. Our purpose is to strengthen the United Kingdom's implementation and enforcement of trade sanctions.
OTSI is here to support businesses with compliance, including by issuing licences, but also to take action where businesses are breaching our sanctions or seeking to circumvent them.
Priorities
Our priorities are:
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raising awareness of trade sanctions
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supporting businesses with trade sanctions compliance
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issuing licences
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detecting and responding to suspected breaches, including taking appropriate and proportionate enforcement action where necessary
To achieve the first two points, we engage with, and are a key contact for, businesses where help is needed. We also issue timely and user-friendly guidance, as needed, to help businesses understand how to comply. We assess applications for licences to carry out activity that would otherwise be sanctioned.
We work in partnership with HMRC to enforce trade sanctions.
Trade sanctions apply to:
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all individuals or businesses within the territory and territorial sea of the UK
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all UK nationals or UK businesses established under UK law, wherever they are in the world
This means we can investigate suspected breaches committed by:
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individuals and legal entities who are within, or undertake activities within, the UK’s territory
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UK individuals and legal entities established under UK law, regardless of where in the world the breach takes place
Responsibilities
We are responsible for civil enforcement concerning the:
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provision or procurement of sanctioned trade services
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movement, making available or acquisition of sanctioned goods outside the UK
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transferring, making available or acquisition of sanctioned technology outside the UK
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providing ancillary services to the movement, making available or acquisition of sanctioned goods outside the UK
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providing ancillary services to the transfer, making available or acquisition of sanctioned technology outside the UK
We are also responsible for licensing relating to the provision of standalone services, including professional and business services, which is otherwise prohibited under UK sanctions regimes.
The licensing of ancillary services to the movement of goods will continue to be the responsibility of the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU).
HMRC is responsible for enforcing trade sanctions where they relate to:
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import or export of goods to, or from, the UK
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transfer of technology to, or from, the UK
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provision of ancillary services relating to the import and export of goods and the transfer of technology to, or from, the UK
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goods and technology, such as military and dual-use goods and technology, which are subject to strategic export controls
HMRC is also responsible for the criminal enforcement of all trade sanctions.