The Obama administration on Oct. 14 announced a broad series of actions to normalize U.S. trade with Cuba, building upon several reforms it has undertaken since December 2014. The White House issued a Presidential Policy Directive (here) that calls on Congress to end the trade embargo, and charts steps the U.S. can take to further ease commercial and travel restrictions short of the embargo’s repeal. Meanwhile, the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Bureau of Industry and Security announced final rules to loosen U.S. policy constraints on bilateral financial and trade transactions. OFAC’s final rule (here) greenlights certain transactions related to Cuban-origin pharmaceuticals and joint medical research, and adds, widens, and clarifies trade and commercial authorizations, among other things. BIS’ final rule (here) will loosen license exception eligibility regulations for Cuban officials, as well as for U.S. air cargo trans-shipped through Cuba, and for sales of products directly to Cuban individuals. Both final rules take effect Oct. 17.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added four individuals and nine entities to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under transnational criminal organization designations, OFAC said (here).
President Barack Obama's executive order removing Myanmar sanctions (see 1610110029) included lifting an eight-year ban on Myanmar-origin jadeite and ruby imports, according to a Treasury Department fact sheet (here). Furthermore, the order removed all individuals and entities blocked under the Burmese Sanctions Regulations (BSR) from the Office of Foreign Assets Control's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, but doesn't impact Myanmar individuals or entities blocked pursuant to other OFAC sanctions authorities, including counter-narcotics sanctions, whose property and property interests remain blocked, Treasury said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed 30 individuals and entities from its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, and updated two individuals and one entity under Zimbabwe designations, OFAC said (here). OFAC also updated one entity and one individual under Kingpin Act designations (here).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added 121 persons to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under Ukraine designations, OFAC said (here).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added six individuals and six entities to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, and removed 17 total individuals and entities from it, OFAC said (here).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added three individuals to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under counterterrorism and Democratic Republic of the Congo designations, OFAC said (here).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added one entity and four individuals to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under nonproliferation designations, OFAC said (here).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control deleted three individuals (here) and one entity (here) from its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, and added 10 individuals to the list (here and here), OFAC said. Also, the State Department designated one entity as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, State said (here).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the PacNet Group a significant transnational criminal organization, OFAC said in a news release (here). "As part of today’s action, OFAC is also designating a global network of 12 individuals and 24 entities across 18 countries," it said. "PacNet is the third-party payment processor of choice for perpetrators of a wide range of mail fraud schemes," it said.