Norway Imposes New Sanctions on Russia, Including Luxury Goods, Iron, and Steel Ban

Norway has implemented new sanctions against Russia, joining the European Union's 11th package of sanctions against Moscow. 

This move was confirmed in a statement by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Norway, together with Europe, is responding to Russia's attack on Ukraine, which violates international law. In solidarity with Ukraine, we have joined all EU sanctions packages. The 11th package of sanctions aims to strengthen existing sanctions and reduce their circumvention possibilities. This is crucial to urgently slow down the flow of money that Russia uses to fund its aggressive war. Trade opportunities with Russia are becoming more limited and high-risk," said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anniken Huitfeldt.

The Norwegian sanctions package includes a ban on transit through Russian territory of "goods and technologies that could contribute to increasing Russia's military and technological potential or the development of the defense and security sector."

Restrictions will also affect products from the aviation and space industry, luxury items, and certain types of iron and steel.

The 11th EU sanctions package also includes a ban on access to ports for vessels involved in ship-to-ship transfers suspected of violating the ban on importing oil or restricting oil prices. It also targets ships that fail to report cargo transfers from ship to ship or manipulate or disable navigation tracking systems during the transportation of Russian oil. Norway is still considering how best to implement this ban into its legislation, and regulatory changes regarding this issue will be made later.

Additionally, the 11th package of EU sanctions has introduced a legal basis for potentially restricting the export of these specified goods and technologies to third countries that are considered to pose a particularly high risk of sanctions evasion. Currently, third countries, goods, and technologies are not covered by this. However, Norway has opted out of this measure for now but will consider legislative implementation if third countries, goods, and technologies are added to the list.

It's important to note that Norway is not an EU member. Nevertheless, Oslo has supported a substantial portion of Brussels' sanction measures, including imposing a ban on vehicles with Russian registration entering the country starting from October 3. The EU approved the 11th package of sanctions against Russia on June 23.