| Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.
Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control
(OFAC) issued a six-month general license to authorize certain trade-related transactions
otherwise prohibited by the Burmese Sanctions Regulations (BSR). This
general license allows individuals, companies, and financial institutions to
conduct most transactions otherwise prohibited by the BSR that are ordinarily
incident to the export of goods, technology, or non-financial services to or
from Burma – including participating in trade finance transactions and paying
port fees as well as shipping and handling charges associated with sending goods
to or from Burma.
This general license authorizes certain transactions ordinarily
incident to exports to or from Burma involving Specially Designated Nationals
(SDNs) and SDN-owned entities involved in the exportation of goods to or from
Burma; however, it does not authorize any transactions to, from, or on behalf of
an SDN, or any other person whose property or interests in property are blocked,
including any entity in which SDNs own, whether individually or in the
aggregate, directly or indirectly, a 50 percent or greater interest. This
general license does not authorize a U.S. financial institution to advise or
confirm any financing by SDNs or blocked persons. It also does not impact other
prohibitions in the BSR; the ban on new investment involving the Ministry of
Defense, state or non-state armed groups, any entity in which any of the
foregoing own a 50 percent or greater interest, and SDNs or other blocked
persons remains fully in effect, as does the prohibition on the import into the
United States of Burmese-origin jadeite, rubies, and jewelry containing
them.
In addition to authorizing certain transactions until June 7, 2016,
this general license also authorizes U.S. financial institutions to unblock and
return transactions blocked on or after April 1, 2015 that would have qualified
as authorized had they been engaged in pursuant to the authorization in the
general license.
This general license is intended to support U.S. and Burmese exporters
and to facilitate trade with Burma. More specifically, this general license is
an effort to calibrate the impact of our Burma sanctions and to support the
ongoing flow of trade with Burma. Supporting Burma’s economic development –
including the encouragement of normal trade with non-sanctioned businesses in
Burma – is a key foreign policy goal. Today’s general license supports the
prior easing of U.S. economic sanctions on Burma in response to significant
positive reforms in the country, while maintaining targeted sanctions against
specific individuals and entities.
For more information on this specific action, please visit our Recent Actions page. |
