Council Common Position 2003/365/CFSP of 19 May 2003 amending Common Position 2001/357/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Liberia
Date: 2003-05-19
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU Member State, Liberia, civil war, export restriction, international sanctions, restriction of liberty, transit, wood product

20.5.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 124/49

(Acts adopted pursuant to Title V of the Treaty on European Union)

COUNCIL COMMON POSITION 2003/365/CFSP

of 19 May 2003

amending Common Position 2001/357/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Liberia

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

1. Article 3 shall be replaced by the following:

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in parti-
cular Article 15 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

concerning

On 7 May 2001 the Council adopted Common Position
2001/357/CFSP (1)
restrictive measures
against Liberia so as to implement UNSC Resolution
1343 (2001) setting out measures to be imposed against
Liberia, adopted on 7 March 2001 by the United Nations
referred to as UNSCR
Security Council,
1343 (2001)).

(hereinafter

On 7 May 2003 the United Nations Security Council
adopted UNSCR 1478 (2003) whereby the measures
imposed against Liberia by UNSCRs 1343 (2001) and
1408 (2002) are amended and extended until 7 May
2004.

UNSCR 1478 (2003) calls upon the Government of
Liberia to establish an effective Certificate of Origin
regime for Liberian rough diamonds that is transparent
and internationally verifiable, and provides that when
such a regime is ready to become fully operational and
to be properly implemented, rough diamonds controlled
by the Government of Liberia through the Certificate of
Origin regime shall be exempted from the import prohi-
bition imposed by UNSCR 1343 (2001).

(4)

Action by the Community is needed in order to imple-
ment certain measures,

HAS ADOPTED THIS COMMON POSITION:

‘Article 3

Member States shall take the necessary measures to prevent
the entry into, or transit through, their territories of:

(a) senior members of the Government of Liberia and its
armed forces and their spouses and any other indivi-
duals providing financial and military support to armed
rebel groups in countries neighbouring Liberia, in parti-
cular the RUF (Revolutionary United Front)
in Sierra
Leone, as designated by the Committee established by
paragraph 14 of UNSCR 1343 (2001), under the condi-
tions set out in UNSCR 1343 (2001);

(b) any individuals,

including from the LURD (Liberians
United for Reconciliation and Democracy) or other
armed rebel groups, determined by that Committee to
be in violation of the arms embargo set out in Article 1,
under the conditions set out in UNSCR 1478 (2003).’

2. The following Article shall be inserted:

‘Article 3a

1.
The direct or indirect import into the Community of
all round logs and timber products originating in Liberia
shall be prohibited.

2.
Paragraph 1 shall apply as from 7 July 2003 unless
the Council decides otherwise in accordance with any future
relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions.’

Article 2

Common Position 2001/357/CFSP is hereby extended until 7
May 2004 unless the Council decides otherwise in accordance
with any future relevant United Nations Security Council Reso-
lution.

Article 1

Article 3

Common Position 2001/357/CFSP is hereby amended as
follows:

This Common Position shall take effect on the date of its adop-
tion.

(1) OJ L 126, 8.5.2001, p. 1, Common Position as last amended by
Common Position 2002/457/CFSP (OJ L 155 of 14.6.2002, p. 62).

It shall be applicable from 7 May 2003.

L 124/50

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

20.5.2003

This Common Position shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 19 May 2003.

For the Council

The President

G. PAPANDREOU