The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a final rule, effective June 30, 2011, which replaces the list of persons (individuals and entities) with whom transactions and dealings are prohibited by the various economic sanctions programs administered by OFAC that appears at Appendix A to 31 CFR Chapter V (Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons) with information on how to obtain up-to-date lists of such persons on OFAC’s Web site or by other means. OFAC also is removing Appendix B to 31 CFR Chapter V, which includes the names of certain blocked vessels, and makes conforming reference changes. Finally, OFAC is amending the Iranian Transactions Regulations by republishing in alphabetical order the entire list of persons identified in Appendix A to 31 CFR Part 560, to reflect changes to the list since that appendix was last published.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a final rule, effective June 29, 2011, which amends and reissues in their entirety the Western Balkans Stabilization Regulations at 31 CFR Part 588, to codify Executive Order 13304 which amended EO 13219 and blocks property and transactions with certain persons who threaten international stabilization efforts in the Western Balkans. OFAC has also issued a final rule which removes certain sanctions regulations at 31 CFR Parts 585, 586, and 587 relating to the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as the national emergencies with respect to which these regulations had been issued were terminated, and all related Executive Orders that had been implemented by these regulations were revoked. The removal rule is available here.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is publishing the name of an individual in Libya whose property and interests in property have been unblocked pursuant to Executive Order 13566, “Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Libya," effective June 21, 2011.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is publishing the names of two individuals and four entities in Zimbabwe of which the property and interests in property have been unblocked pursuant to Executive Order 13288, “Blocking Property of Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Zimbabwe” and/or Executive Order 13288, as amended by Executive Order 13391, “Blocking Property of Additional Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Zimbabwe,” effective June 21, 2011. The four entities are Duiker Flats Farm; Subdivision 3 of Caledon Farm; Swift Investments (Pvt) Ltd.; and Zvinavashe Investments Ltd.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued General License No. 4 under the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 544) authorizing the exportation or reexportation of agricultural commodities, medicine, or medical devices to the Government of Iran, any entity in Iran, individuals in Iran, or persons in third countries purchasing specifically for resale to any of the foregoing, through any port operated by Tidewater Middle East Company, as well as services and payments related to such exportation or reexportation, provided the exportation or reexportation is authorized by a specific license issued by OFAC prior to June 23, 2011, and is shipped under a contract entered into prior to June 23, 2011, requiring delivery through a port or ports operated by Tidewater. This general license expires at 11:59 PM EDT on August 23, 2011.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is publishing the names of nine entities identified on June 21 as persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13566, “Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Libya”: General Company for Chemical Industries of Libya; General National Maritime Transport Company of Libya; Ghana Libya Arab Holding Company of Libya; Glahco Hotels And Tourism Development Company Limited (Golden Tulip Accra) of Ghana; Libyan Norwegian Fertiliser Company of Libya; Pak-Libya Holding Company of Pakistan; Arab Turkish Bank, North Africa International Bank, and North Africa Commercial Bank. OFAC is also issuing Federal Register notice of its amendment General License No. 1A to exclude the three banks from the scope of the general license authorization. (See ITT's Online Archives or 06/21/11 news, 11062153, for previous BP summary of these designations and the General License 1A amendment.)
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated two major Iranian commercial entities, Tidewater Middle East Co. and Iran Air for their affiliation with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which freezes the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their supporters. Treasury also designated an entity, Mehr-e Eqtesad-e Iranian Investment Company and Behnam Shahriyari Trading Company, and an individual, Behnam Shahriyari, for their ties to a company that provided support and weapons to Hizballah on behalf of the IRGC, pursuant to EO 13224, which targets for sanctions terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. OFAC has also updated its Specially Designated Nationals list to include these designations. A joint State and Treasury Department statement on these sanctions is available here. The FR notice on Shahriyari's designation is available here. The FR notice on Iran Air's designation is available here. The FR notice on Mehr-e and Tidewater's designation is available here.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued General License No. 1B under Executive Order 13566, which amends General License No. 1A to exclude Arab Turkish Bank, North Africa International Bank, and North Africa Commercial Bank from the scope of the authorization. General License No. 1A authorized all transactions involving banks that are owned or controlled by the Government of Libya and organized under the laws of a country other than Libya, under certain conditions. General License 1B is available here. (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/07/11 news, 11030747, for BP summary of General License No. 1A.)
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a guidance on the donations of food and medicine to Iran and the non-Specified Ares of Sudan, which states, among other things, that although such donations, when intended to be used to relieve human suffering, are exempt from the prohibitions of the Iranian Transaction Regulations (ITR) and the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations (SSR) and do not require a license pursuant to the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, the commercial exportation or reexportation of food and medicine to Iran and the non-Specified Areas of Sudan is subject to the licensing requirements of TSRA. In addition, the donation of funds to a non-U.S. person for the purchase of food, medicine, or medical devices to be exported to Iran or the non-Specified Areas of Sudan would require a license.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated two senior Taliban officials and two members of its affiliated group the Haqqani Network, pursuant to Executive Order 13224: Ahmad Zia Agha; Ahmed Jan Wazir; Fazl Rabi; and Mohammad Aman Akhund of Afghanistan. U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the designees and any assets they have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen. The Federal Register notice of this designations (FR Pub 06/28/11) is available here.