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906. What do Iran General License (GL) N-2, Syria GL 21B, and Venezuela GL 39B authorize with respect to the fight against the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)? How do these GLs differ from OFAC’s existing humanitarian exemptions, exceptions, and authorizations?
In order to further aid the global fight against COVID-19, OFAC has extended time-limited general licenses, Iran GL N-2, Syria GL 21B, and Venezuela GL 39B (together, the COVID-19-related GLs), to continue to provide broad authorizations for certain COVID-19-related transactions and activities. The general licenses expand upon longstanding humanitarian exemptions, exceptions, and authorizations in OFAC sanctions programs, which remain in effect (see OFAC’s June 14, 2023 Fact Sheet on the Provision of Humanitarian Assistance and Trade to Combat COVID-19 (originally issued April 16, 2020 and has since been updated every year)) to cover additional COVID 19-related transactions and activities. For example, Iran GL N-2 continues to allow for...
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1) U.S. Person Involvement in Underlying Transactions Unrelated to the U.S.
All three COVID GLs authorize “all transactions” related to specified COVID-related activities; they do not state on their faces that the GLs authorize transactions by “U.S. persons.” In FAQ 906, OFAC confirms “[b]oth U.S. persons and non-U.S. persons whose activities are within U.S. jurisdiction — including exporters, nongovernmental organizations, international organizations, and financial institutions — may rely upon the authorizations in these COVID-19-related GLs provided they meet the applicable conditions.” This statement confirms that U.S. persons may “facilitate” or otherwise play an ancillary part in any transaction described by the GLs, even if the transaction does not otherwise involve a U.S. person. Compare FAQ # 883 (making a similar statement with respect to payment processing). The question is whether a person’s activities are “are within U.S. jurisdiction,” not whether they are facilitating a...