Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2663 actions· ✨ 89 recent

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated four individuals and four entities under Executive Order 14098 ("Imposing Sanctions on Certain Persons Destabilizing Sudan and Undermining the Goal of a Democratic Transition") for operating a transnational network that recruits former Colombian military personnel to fight for Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary. Designated persons include retired Colombian officer Alvaro Andres Quijano Becerra, his wife Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, the Colombia-based recruitment agency International Services Agency (A4SI), and Panama-based intermediary Talent Bridge, S.A. (formerly Global Staffing S.A.). All property and interests in property of the designated persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from transacting with them.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a final rule amending three sanctions programs. The rule adds a new general license at 31 CFR § 525.512 to the Burma Sanctions Regulations authorizing the provision of agricultural commodities, medicine, medical devices, replacement parts and components for medical devices, and software updates for medical devices to individuals whose property and interests in property are blocked. It also updates the authorities section of the Burma Sanctions Regulations to reflect recent legislation, replaces "the Office of Foreign Assets Control" / "the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control" with the acronym "OFAC" in three sections of the Sudan Stabilization Sanctions Regulations, and corrects a cross-reference in the Ukraine-/Russia- Related Sanctions Regulations. The rule is effective on publication.

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a final rule in the Federal Register (89 FR 15769, FR Doc 2024-04500) renaming the Darfur Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 546) to the Sudan Stabilization Sanctions Regulations and amending them to implement Executive Order 14098 of May 4, 2023. E.O. 14098 broadened US sanctions authority beyond the Darfur-specific frame to cover all persons destabilising Sudan and undermining democratic transition, responding to the SAF–RSF armed conflict that erupted in April 2023. The rule adds new general licenses covering legal-service payments (§ 546.508), African Union transactions (§ 546.511), and agricultural/medical exports (§ 546.513), and introduces an interpretative provision clarifying that entities are not automatically blocked solely because a blocked individual holds a leadership position.

OFAC amends the Terrorism List Governments Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 596) to implement the Secretary of State's December 14, 2020 rescission of Sudan's State Sponsor of Terrorism (SST) designation, which Sudan had held since 1993. The rule removes references to the Government of Sudan and Sudanese nationals from §596.505 (the prohibition on financial transactions with SST-listed governments) and deletes §596.506 (which had required OFAC licensing for exports of agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices to Sudan). The action reduces the US-Sudan sanctions perimeter by eliminating the TLGSR layer; the separate Darfur/ stabilization program (31 CFR Part 546) remains intact.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement the State Department's December 14, 2020 rescission of Sudan's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (SSOT). The rule removes Sudan from Country Group E:1 (State Sponsors of Terrorism), which had imposed a blanket denial of license exceptions and a policy of denial for most dual-use exports. Following this change, Sudan exporters may now utilise applicable EAR license exceptions and benefit from a more permissive licensing review policy, though Sudan retains arms-embargo status under Country Group D:5.