510. Has OFAC issued general licenses related to E.O. 13808?
OFAC has issued four general licenses related to E.O. 13808. General License 1, which expired on September 25, 2017, applied to contracts and other agreements that were in effect prior to August 25, 2017. It provided 30 days in which to conduct all transactions and activities otherwise prohibited by Subsections 1 (a)(i)-(iii) and (b) of E.O. 13808 that were ordinarily incident and necessary to winding down such agreements.
General License 2 authorizes all transactions otherwise prohibited by Subsections 1(a)(i), (a)(ii), and (b) of E.O. 13808 provided that the only Government of Venezuela entities involved in the transactions are CITGO Holding, Inc. and any of its subsidiaries.
General License 3 authorizes all transactions related to, the provision of financing for, and other dealings in bonds contained in the Annex to General License 3 that would otherwise be prohibited by Section 1(a)(iii) of E.O. 13808. The Annex is also available as a stand-alone document on the Venezuela-related Sanctions page of OFAC’s website. General License 3 further authorizes all transactions related to, the provision of financing for, and other dealings in bonds issued prior to August 25, 2017, if such bonds were issued by U.S. person entities owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the Government of Venezuela, such as CITGO Holding, Inc.
General License 4 authorizes all transactions related to the provision of financing for, and other dealings in debt issued on or after August 25, 2017 related to the exportation or reexportation of agricultural commodities, medicine, medical devices, or replacement parts and components for medical devices, to Venezuela, or to persons in third countries purchasing specifically for resale to Venezuela, provided that the exportation or reexportation is licensed or otherwise authorized by the Department of Commerce.
All of the general licenses are available on OFAC's website (www.treasury.gov/ofac) on the Venezuela-related Sanctions page. Review them for details. [07-19-2018]
*Note: Since the time this FAQ was issued, OFAC radically altered the Venezuela program as a whole, in part by designating PdVSA and the Central Bank of Venezuela (EO 13850), and by subsequently blocking the Government of Venezuela (EO 13884). This FAQ was not amended to reflect either of those developments. Ensure that, even if the statements in the FAQ are still correct, they are not of practical utility in light of designations pursuant to other EOs.
1) With respect to General License 4, OFAC considers "new debt" to include sales with payment terms extending beyond the relevant debt maturities, and even the receipt of payments after those maturity dates in connection with goods sold pursuant to contracts envisaging payment dates shorter than the applicable maturity dates. The general license would therefore appear to permit whatever payment terms the exporter and sanctioned party agree on.