OFAC publishes Ethiopia sanctions regs in keeping with E.O.14046
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (‘OFAC’) has issued the Ethiopia Sanctions Regulations which implement Executive Order 14046 from 17 September 2021, ‘Imposing Sanctions on Certain Persons with Respect to the Humanitarian and Human Rights Crisis in Ethiopia.’
OFAC says it is also incorporating ‘three general licenses that were previously issued on [its] website into the Regulations. Sections 550.510 through 550.512 incorporate General Licenses 1, 2, and 3, which authorize, respectively:
- Official business of certain international organizations and entities;
- certain transactions in support of nongovernmental organizations’ activities;
and transactions related to the exportation or reexportation of agricultural commodities, medicine, medical devices, replacement parts and components, or software updates.’
It noted: ‘General Licenses 1, 2, and 3 were each issued on September 17, 2021 on OFAC’s website, and each will be removed from OFAC’s website upon publication of this rule. The Regulations are being published in abbreviated form at this time for the purpose of providing immediate guidance to the public. OFAC intends to supplement this part 550 with a more comprehensive set of regulations, which may include additional interpretive guidance and definitions, general licenses, and other regulatory provisions. The appendix to the Regulations will be removed when OFAC supplements this part with a more comprehensive set of regulations.’
In a recent briefing document, the International Crisis Group, highlighted the current situation in Ethiopia as being amongst one of eight priorities for the African Union, saying:
‘Over the last fourteen months, Ethiopia’s civil war has killed tens of thousands and displaced an estimated two million. It now threatens more than nine million with acute hunger. Reports describe widespread use of sexual and gender-based violence as a weapon of war on all sides. The momentum has ebbed and flowed between the federal coalition, which includes Eritrea’s military, and the Tigray region’s forces, but in December the Tigrayans’ retreat to their home region and their leaders’ call for talks created an opportunity for peace.
‘Although fighting has continued on Tigray’s borders, the federal government has said it will not push further into the region. It released jailed opposition leaders in early January. The parties must seize this moment if they are to avoid the loss of countless more Ethiopian lives. Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the AU’s high representative for the Horn of Africa, should keep working closely with U.S. and EU counterparts, as well as the UN secretary-general and Kenyan officials – all of whom have been trying to stem the crisis – to kickstart a process that can bring an end to hostilities.’
