Regulation (EC) No 2271/96 counteracts the effects of the extra-territorial application of laws, including regulations and other legislative instruments adopted by third countries, and of actions based thereon or resulting therefrom, where such application affects the interests of natural and legal persons in the Union engaging in international trade and/or the movement of capital and related commercial activities between the Union and third countries.

The Regulation acknowledges that by their extra-territorial application, such instruments violate international law.

The third-country instruments to which Regulation (EC) No 2271/96 applies are specified in the Annex to that Regulation.

On 8 May 2018, the United States announced they will no longer waive their national restrictive measures relating to Iran. Some of those measures have extra-territorial application and cause adverse effects on the interests of the Union and the interests of natural and legal persons exercising rights under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The Annex to the Regulation should therefore be amended to include those restrictive measures,