The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week issued Venezuela-related General License 31B, which replaces General License 31A (see 2101040025), authorizes U.S. persons to engage in transactions otherwise prohibited by sanctions involving the Venezuelan National Assembly seated on Jan. 5, 2016, and associated entities and people. The new license removes a reference to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, since he was ousted by the opposition party's National Assembly last month. OFAC also amended five frequently asked questions related to the license and the Venezeula sanctions.
The U.K. updated or amended four of its General Licenses under its Russia sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said last week. The licenses pertain to the oil price cap, "winddown" of positions subject to the oil price cap, correspondent banking and payment processing and projects and countries' exemption from the oil price cap.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked the Biden administration to offer more general licenses to Cuban small businesses so they can avoid the sanctions on Cuba. Wyden, who visited Cuba in late December, said he'll be talking with Senate colleagues about how to help the Cuban private sector grow. He said in a Jan. 4 press release that a stronger private sector could both lay the foundations for "fundamental political and economic reforms" in Cuba and reduce Cuban migration to the U.S. -- which was nearly 250,000 in 2022.
The U.K. Dec. 30 revoked 26 open general licenses, all of which were originally made to be used in parallel with licenses that had been "locked against further registration," the Department for International Trade announced. The original licenses were unlocked Sept. 30, making the parallel licenses redundant. The parallel licenses covered a range of goods, including chemicals, military items, energy products and dual-use goods.
The State Department is seeking public comments on an information collection involving requests to change the end user, end use or destination of hardware and open general licenses. Comments are due Feb. 3.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week issued preliminary guidance on the implementation of the price cap for Russian-origin petroleum products, outlining how it will apply restrictions to articles defined by Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. heading 2710. The price cap will work in a similar manner to the crude oil cap, where participating countries will ban "a broad range" of maritime transport services if they support shipping Russian petroleum products over a predetermined cap.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control published two Russia-related general licenses in the Federal Register this week. The previously issued licenses, 8D and 40C, authorize certain transactions related to Russian energy and civil aviation safety.
New general licenses issued this week by the Treasury Department may be misused to fund terrorist efforts and human rights violations, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said. Although the licenses are designed to allow Treasury to better authorize humanitarian aid to sanctioned countries (see 2212200035), McCaul said they could help companies and banks inadvertently send money and aid to the wrong people.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week announced what it said are "historic steps" to implement new humantiarian-related authrotizations across its sanctions programs in an effort to better allow the flow of aid to sanctioned countries. The move builds on a U.N. Security Council decision earlier this month that established a humanitarian carve-out across sanctions regimes, allowing nongovernmental organizations, banks and others a general license for certain aid-related transactions involving sanctioned jurisdictions (see 2212120054). Treasury said the U.S. is "the first country in the world" to implement the U.N. carveout in its own borders.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published its Illicit Drug Trade Sanctions Regulations. The regulations implement Executive Order 14059, “Imposing Sanctions on Foreign Persons Involved in the Global Illicit Drug Trade,” issued on Dec. 15, 2021. OFAC said it intends to supplement the regulations with a more comprehensive set, which may include additional guidance and general licenses. The regulations are in effect Dec. 20.