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

The Central Bank of Sudan (CBOS) issued Circular No. 12/2026 and Circular No. 13/2026 on 14 May 2026, restructuring Sudan's gold export regime. Circular 12/2026 abolished restrictions on exporters' use of gold and commodity export earnings — permitting proceeds to fund any Ministry of Trade-authorised import via an "intermediate import account" (21-day utilisation window) — and formally terminated the CBOS monopoly on gold purchases, allowing registered private traders to export through official channels. Circular 13/2026 established a daily gold incentive price (international 24-karat benchmark minus USD 10 per troy ounce, converted to USD per gram), published through the XAR electronic system; commercial banks and export-clearing authorities must clear shipments at or above this price.

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.