Weapons of Mass Destruction Trade Control Regulations — Technical Amendment (31 CFR Part 539)

Mechanism

The Weapons of Mass Destruction Trade Control Regulations (31 CFR Part 539) implement import-side measures targeting foreign persons who have engaged in activities related to the proliferation of WMDs or their means of delivery. The programme is parallel to — but distinct from — the WMD Proliferators Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 544), which operates on a blocking/asset-freeze model; Part 539 historically focused on import prohibitions tied to an enumerated list (Appendix I).

Addition of E.O. 13382 as authority: Executive Order 13382, signed by President Bush on 28 June 2005, provides the primary executive authority for the broader US WMD-proliferation sanctions architecture. The amendment formally added this EO to the list of authorities for Part 539, aligning the regulatory text with actual legal grounding — the EO had been operative since 2005 but was not explicitly cited in the Part 539 authority block.

Removal of Appendix I: The appendix contained the names of foreign persons subject to Part 539 import measures. OFAC determined that all persons previously enumerated had, through separate Federal Register actions, been found no longer subject to those measures. Maintaining a now-empty or fully superseded appendix created potential for confusion; the rule removes it entirely and directs practitioners to active Federal Register publications and the State Department website for current designee information — consistent with OFAC's broader move toward dynamic online listing versus static CFR appendices.

Definition updates (Sections 539.301, 539.302, 539.304): Three definitional provisions had contained explicit cross-references to Appendix I (e.g., defining covered "foreign persons" by reference to appendix entries). Each was updated with language reflecting the appendix's removal, substituting reference to the relevant Federal Register publications.

Context

This December 2021 amendment is part of a broader 2021–2022 OFAC regulatory housekeeping cycle that touched multiple Part 500-series sanctions programmes. A parallel action in the same period amended the WMD Proliferators Sanctions Regulations (Part 544) to revise general licences for legal services (see 2022-02-16-us-ofac-wmd-proliferators-sanctions-gl-amendments). Neither amendment altered the operative sanctions perimeter; both were administrative modernisation of the CFR regulatory text.

Part 539 retains its structural role as the import-side complement to Part 544's asset-freeze/blocking framework: together they constitute the domestic regulatory architecture for the US WMD-proliferation control programme operating under EO 13382.

Downstream implications

• No operational change to WMD import prohibitions; the substantive sanctions perimeter is unchanged.
• Compliance teams should update internal CFR cross-references: Part 539 Appendix I no longer exists;

current designated-person lookups must go through OFAC's SDN list / Federal Register publications.

• The formal addition of EO 13382 to Part 539's authority block reinforces the legal foundation for

any future import-measure designations under the programme.

Open questions

• Whether OFAC intends to re-populate Part 539 import measures under the new authority citation

framework (e.g., against newly designated proliferators) or whether the import-restriction track has been effectively merged into the asset-blocking track under Part 544.