Sanctions programmes
What each major sanctions programme actually restricts, which authorities administer it, when it started, and which evasion techniques appear in its enforcement record.
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A programme is not a country. Most of these restrict particular parties, sectors, goods or services rather than all dealings with a place, which means the operative question is almost never whether a country is sanctioned but whether this transaction, with these parties, in this sector, is prohibited.
- Belarus sanctions Measures imposed after 2020 and expanded from 2022, largely mirroring the Russia programme in scope and, deliberately, in the gaps it is meant to close.
- Cuba sanctions The oldest US embargo still administered by OFAC: the Cuban Assets Control Regulations of 1963, layered with later statutes, that prohibit most transactions involving Cuba or its nationals unless licensed.
- Iran sanctions A layered set of US, EU and UN measures dating from 1979 and substantially rebuilt after 2018, covering energy, finance, shipping, and proliferation-related procurement.
- Libya sanctions A UN regime aimed at armed groups, illicit petroleum exports and the misuse of Libyan state institutions, with a parallel US programme. The Panel of Experts' reporting documents fuel smuggling in unusual detail.
- Myanmar (Burma) sanctions The current US programme, built on E.O. 14014 of 2021, blocks the military, the defence and jet fuel sectors, and anyone materially supporting them. OFAC still uses the name Burma.
- North Korea sanctions The most comprehensive UN-mandated regime, prohibiting most trade with North Korea, backed by Panel of Experts reporting that documents evasion in unusual detail.
- Russia sanctions Measures imposed from 2014 and greatly expanded from 2022, combining designations, sectoral restrictions, export controls and a price cap on seaborne oil.
- Sudan sanctions A US embargo regime from 1997, revoked in 2017 and followed by targeted measures. Its main relevance here is historical: several of the largest penalties in OFAC's record concern conduct from the years it was in force.
- Syria sanctions US, EU and UK measures restricting dealings with the Syrian government, its energy sector and designated parties, with substantial humanitarian carve-outs.
- Venezuela sanctions US measures targeting the Venezuelan government, the state oil company and designated individuals, with restrictions on debt, equity and petroleum dealings.
- Yemen sanctions A UN travel ban, asset freeze and targeted arms embargo on designated individuals and entities, with a parallel US programme. Implementation of the asset freeze is, by the Panel's own account, limited.