299. For purposes of IFCA, what are considered precious metals?
For purposes of IFCA, we anticipate that regulations to be promulgated will define the term "precious metals" to include silver (including silver plated with gold or platinum, unwrought or in semi-manufactured forms, or in powder form); gold (including gold plated with platinum, unwrought or in semi-manufactured forms, or in powder form); base metals or silver, clad with gold, not further worked than semi-manufactured; platinum, unwrought or in semi-manufactured forms, or in powder form; iridium; osmium; palladium; rhodium; ruthenium; base metals, silver or gold, clad with platinum, not further worked than semi-manufactured; waste and scrap of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metals, other waste and scrap containing precious metal or precious-metal compounds, of a kind used principally for the recovery of precious metal. [06-03-13]
1) Unlike the secondary sanctions provisions preceding IFCA, the statutory and executive order provisions that are the subject of these FAQs have not yet been implemented in the IFSR or any other regulations. This FAQ provides guidance on the scope of terms not otherwise defined in IFCA.
Note that the range of materials subject to the IFCA Sec. 1244 sanctions is far broader than those that are the subject of the secondary sanctions in EO 13871. Graphite, for example, is subject to the IFCA sanctions, but not EO 13871, as implemented in the ISHRASR.
2) See also Increasing Iran Metals Sanctions Targeting Iran’s Nuclear, Military, and Ballistic Missile Programs and the IRGC (IFCA Sec. 1245 Guidance).