Did you know there are countries where you can get a sanction for purchasing insurance for your cargo?
This happens when the shipment goes from the United States to a country that has been sanctioned or embargoed by the U.S. In these cases, the U.S Government, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) determines that American companies and citizens may not do business with certain governments, companies, and citizens. These businesses include marine insurance.
Of course, there are exceptions, like when the cargo is humanitarian aid, and the conditions vary from one country to another.
Therefore, when you are planning to move cargo to a distant place, the advice is to always check out if the destination is among those countries.
There is also an OFAC’s list of specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN), which includes 6,000 names of specific companies and individuals who are connected with the sanctions targets.
The OFAC has different sanction programs, from the blocking of assets and trade restrictions. You can get more information here: https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Pages/Programs.aspx
These are the countries included in the OFAC sanctions program:
- Afghanistan
- Belarus
- Burundi
- Central African Republic Crimea
- Sebastopol Cuba
- The Democratic Republic of Congo
- Egypt
- Eritrea
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ivory Coast
- Liberia
- Mali
- Myanmar
- North Korea
- The Republic of Guinea
- The Republic of Guinea-Bissau
- Russia
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Syria
- Tunisia
- Ukraine
- Yemen
- Zimbabwe
Sources:
http://www.icontainers.com/us/2016/10/11/cargo-insurance-sanctions/
http://www.aimu.org/brochures/cargoinsurancerestrict.html
