Ed. Note: if you’re new to TURBOFAC, please take note that the text string filtration function generally shouldn’t be used for terms such as “ordinarily resident,” “causing” or “new debt”. For research on the meaning of words and phrases such as those, i.e. terms central to the key legal issues in sanctions law that appear on a cross-programmatic basis, you’re typically better off locating and checking the appropriate box in the “Key Legal Issues” search category, which will limit the results to those that have been manually assessed as being relevant for the interpretation of the terms at issue.
Try typing your search term (“ordinarily resident,” “new debt,” or something else) in the “Find a Search Filter” box at the top of the page, and the corresponding “Key Legal Issues” check box will pop up instantly, if one exists. Once you check the box (e.g. “new debt,” with ~55 results), you can always use the text string filtration function to further refine your search (e.g. by typing “invoice” and narrowing the ~55 results to ~10).
Note in addition that the same applies to text string searches such as “14071” (if you’re looking for items related to EO 14071). By typing “14071” in the “Find a Search Filter” field up top, you will be able to instantly narrow the results down to items manually assessed as relating to EO 14071. Ditto terms such as “515.204” or “Iran General License G” (try the “Discrete Legal Provision” search category).
Please contact [email protected] or [email protected] with any questions on search results and efficiency.
Please click "Apply Text String Filters" again after clicking the "Close" button immediately below.
1) This FAQ continues OFAC's recent trend of explicitly stating that transactions that are permissible for U.S. persons are not transactions that would (even if they theoretically could) result in the imposition of sanctions on non-U.S. persons whose activities do not otherwise have a U.S. nexus. While not putting it in these explicit terms, the FAQ means that, for example, OFAC will not consider a non-U.S. person "to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, [a] sanctioned person" if the activities at issue would have been "exempt or authorized for U.S. persons pursuant to Ethiopia GL 1, GL 2, or GL 3." Unlike similar FAQs (e.g. FAQ # 823, FAQ # 844, FAQ # 911, FAQ # 914), this FAQ appears to be the first of its kind in that is expressly states that activity would not be sanctionable it would qualify for an applicable exemption for a U.S. person (in this case the travel exemption, personal communications exemption and informational materials exemption that apply directly from IEEPA [1], as well as the "official business" exemption that is specific to the EO). OFAC has never sanctioned a non-U.S. person for engaging in activity that would have been within the scope of an otherwise applicable exemption for a U.S. person, and such activities carry a zero-to-de-minimis sanctions risk as a default proposition [2], but it is nevertheless notable that OFAC has explicitly addressed the relationship between exemptions and “sanctionable” conduct. Note, however, the "generally" qualifier in the FAQ.
[1] Refer to General Note on the Applicability of IEEPA/TWEA Exemptions in EOs and Sanctions Regulations not Specifically Mentioning Them.
[2] Refer to General Note on Secondary Sanctions and “Derivative Designation” Criteria; Identification of the Gap Between the Theoretical and Practical Scopes of Authorities Targeting Transactions with no U.S. Nexus; Enforcement Risk Management.
2) Refer generally to General Note on "Counterfactual Secondary Sanctions and Derivative Designation Safe Harbors" in Certain OFAC Guidance and FAQs (System Ed. Note).