ASMARA U.S.A. Inc.

U.S. Lifts Most Trade Sanctions on Iraq

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") has issued a general license lifting most U.S. economic sanctions against Iraq effective May 27, 2003. This follows the U.N. Security Council's adoption of a resolution lifting U.N. sanctions and OFAC's issuance of four general licenses under the Iraq Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 575) on May 7 (see attached Federal Register notice - 68 Fed. Reg. 28753 (May 27, 2003)), permitting activities relating to humanitarian relief and reconstruction efforts in Iraq. The May 27 general license (which OFAC has not yet published in the Federal Register) allows all transactions with the exception of trade in arms, stolen cultural artifacts, and trade with Baath party officials and certain other Iraqi officials and agents. 

Licensing of Exports to Iraq
(May 9, 2003)

President suspends Iraq Sanctions Act: On May 7, the President exercised his authority under the Wartime Supplemental Authorization Act of 2003 to suspend most of the provisions of the Iraq Sanctions Act of 1990. As a result, the U.S. Government will no longer be required to prohibit the export of items to Iraq that would require an export license under the Commerce Department's Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and will have the discretion to review and approve license applications on their merits.
At this time, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) continues to be responsible for licensing transactions involving Iraq, including the export of dual-use items that would require a license under the EAR. Since the embargo on Iraq was implemented in the early 1990s, both the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Commerce have maintained licensing jurisdiction for the export of dual-use items to Iraq. In order to avoid a duplicate licensing requirement while the embargo is in effect, however, the EAR currently provide that authorization from OFAC to export items subject to EAR licensing requirements constitutes authorization from Commerce. Therefore, until further notice, exporters should continue to obtain authorization from OFAC (either through a specific or general license) for any exports of dual-use items to Iraq. For more information go the OFAC Web site.