Case No. Ukraine-EO13685-2015-323871-l
Nielsen Holdings Plc
[***]
1200 Seventeenth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
Attn: [***]
Dear Ms. [***]:
This is in reply to your November 13, 2015 request, and additional correspondence dated May 3, 2019 (collectively, the “Application”) to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on behalf of your client, Nielson Holdings Plc d/b/a. The Nielsen Company (“Nielsen”), for confirmation on whether the importation of certain informational material into the United States, [***].
Executive Order 13685 of December 19, 2014, “Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine” (E.O. 13685), prohibits certain activities by U.S. persons, wherever located, in the Crimea region of Ukraine, including new investment in the Crimea region of Ukraine; the importation into the United States, directly or indirectly, of...
1) As the time this letter was issued, the embargo imposed on Crimea derived from EO 13685 was not incorporated into any set of regulations. The precise subject matter of the guidance letter is unclear due to redactions, i.e. it is not clear what the Nielsen sought to “import” into the United States, but what is clear is that OFAC acknowledges that, in principle, the informational materials exemption applies to transactions involving Crimea. Compare Case No. MUL-372-1. It is also notable that OFAC states that “the information and informational materials exemption does not exempt from regulation or authorize transactions related to information or informational materials not fully created and in existence at the date of the transactions, or to the substantive or artistic alteration or enhancement of informational materials, or to the provision of marketing and business consulting services.”...