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Sanctions Update: Export Licensing Policy for the Crimea Region

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On January 29, 2015, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), consistent with the prohibitions contained in Executive Order 13685 that broadly prohibited new investments in, imports from and exports to the Crimea region. Specifically, the Executive Order prohibited “the exportation, reexportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, from the United States, or by a United States person, wherever located, of any goods, services, or technology to the Crimea region of Ukraine.”

A license is now required for exports and reexports to, and transfers within, the Crimea region of Ukraine for all items subject to the EAR, other than food and medicine designated as EAR99. There will be a presumption of denial for all such license applications, with the exception of certain agricultural commodities, medicine, medical supplies, and replacement parts authorized under the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control General License No. 4. For those items, BIS will review the license applications on a case-by-case basis.

Shipments of items that did not previously require a license that were on the dock for loading, or loaded on January 29, 2015, were allowed to proceed without a license, provided that they were exported/reexported by February 1, 2015.

Certain license exceptions are available for exports and reexports to, and transfers within, the Crimea region of Ukraine. These include the following, subject to the specific requirements in each exception:

  • TMP for items for use by the news media
  • GOV for items for personal or official use by personnel and agencies of the U.S. Government, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), or the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom)
  • GFT for gift parcels and humanitarian donations
  • TSU for certain operation technology and software for lawfully exported commodities, and certain sales technology
  • BAG for exports of items by individuals leaving the United States as personal baggage
  • AVS for civil aircraft and vessels

For guidance on legal issues involving Ukraine-Russia sanctions, contact any of the above authors, or any of the professionals in Pillsbury’s International Trade Group.