[House Document 106-99]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





106th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 106-99
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       A REPORT ON DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING EXECUTIVE ORDER 12543       

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  FROM

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              TRANSMITTING

A REPORT ON DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT 
TO LIBYA THAT WAS DECLARED IN EXECUTIVE ORDER 12543 OF JANUARY 7, 1986, 
                     PURSUANT TO 50 U.S.C. 1703(c)




    July 19, 1999.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the 
    Committee on International Relations and ordered to be printed.

                                -------                                

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
69-011                     WASHINGTON : 1999       



To the Congress of the United States:
    I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since 
my last report of December 30, 1998, concerning the national 
emergency with respect to Libya that was declared in Executive 
Order 12543 of January 7, 1986. This report is submitted 
pursuant to section 401(c) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 
U.S.C. 1641(c); section 204(c) of the International Emergency 
Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. 1703(c); and section 
505(c) of the International Security and Development 
Cooperation Act of 1985, 22 U.S.C. 2349aa-9(c).
    1. On December 30, 1998, I renewed for another year the 
national emergency with respect to Libya pursuant to IEEPA. 
This renewal extended the current comprehensive financial and 
trade embargo against Libya in effect since 1986. Under these 
sanctions, virtually all trade with Libya is prohibited, and 
all assets owned or controlled by the Government of Libya in 
the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. 
persons are blocked.
    2. On April 28, 1999, I announced that the United States 
will exempt commercial sales of agricultural commodities and 
products, medicine, and medical equipment from future 
unilateral sanctions regimes. In addition, my Administration 
will extend this policy to existing sanctions programs by 
modifying licensing policies for currently embargoed countries 
to permit case-by-case review of specific proposals for 
commercial sales of these items. Certain restrictions apply.
    The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the 
Department of the Treasury is currently drafting amendments to 
the Libyan Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 550 (the 
Regulations), to implement this initiative. The amended 
Regulations will provide for the licensing of sales of 
agricultural commodities and products, medicine, and medical 
supplies to nongovernmental entities in Libya or to government 
procurement agencies and parastatals not affiliated with the 
coercive organs of that country. The amended Regulations will 
also provide for the licensing of all transactions necessary 
and incident to licensed sales transactions, such as insurance 
and shipping arrangements. Financing for the licensed sales 
transactions will be permitted in the manner described in the 
amended Regulations.
    3. During the reporting period, OFAC reviewed numerous 
applications for licenses to authorize transactions under the 
Regulations. Consistent with OFAC's ongoing scrutiny of banking 
transactions, the largest category of license approvals (20) 
involved types of financial transactions that are consistent 
with U.S. policy. Most of these licenses authorized personal 
remittances not involving Libya between persons who are not 
blocked parties to flow through Libyan banks located outside 
Libya. Three licenses were issued authorizing certain travel-
related transactions. One license was issued to a U.S. firm to 
allow it to protect its intellectual property rights in Libya; 
another authorized receipt of payment for legal services; and a 
third authorized payments for telecommunications services. A 
total of 26 licenses were issued during the reporting period.
    4. During the current 6-month period, OFAC continued to 
emphasize to the international banking community in the United 
States the importance of identifying and blocking payments made 
by or on behalf of Libya. The office worked closely with the 
banks to assure the effectiveness of interdiction software 
systems used to identify such payments. During the reporting 
period, 87 transactions potentially involving Libya, totaling 
nearly $3.4 million, were interdicted.
    5. Since my last report, OFAC has collected 7 civil 
monetary penalties totaling $38,000 from 2 U.S. financial 
institutions, 3 companies, and 2 individuals for violations of 
the U.S. sanctions against Libya. The violations involvedexport 
transactions relating to Libya and dealings in Government of Libya 
property or property in which the Government of Libya had an interest.
    On April 23, 1999, a foreign national permanent resident in 
the United States was sentenced by the Federal District court 
for the Middle District of Florida to 2 years in prison and 2 
years supervised release for criminal conspiracy to violate 
economic sanctions against Libya, Iran, and Iraq. He had 
previously been convicted of violation of the Libyan Sanctions 
Regulations, the Iranian Transactions Regulations, the Iraqi 
Sanctions Regulations and the Export Administration Regulations 
for exportation of industrial equipment to the oil, gas, 
petrochemical, water, and power industries of Libya, Iran, and 
Iraq.
    Various enforcement actions carried over from previous 
reporting periods have continued to be aggressively pursued. 
Numerous investigations are ongoing and new reports of 
violations are being scrutinized.
    6. The expenses incurred by Federal Government in the 6-
month period from January 7 through July 6, 1999, that are 
directly attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities 
conferred by the declaration of the Libyan national emergency 
are estimated at approximately $4.4 million. Personnel costs 
were largely centered in the Department of the Treasury 
(particularly in the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the 
Office of the General Counsel, and the U.S. Customs Service), 
the Department of State, and the Department of Commerce.
    7. In April 1999, Libya surrendered the 2 suspects in the 
Lockerbie bombing for trial before a Scottish court seated in 
the Netherlands. In accordance with UNSCR 748, upon the 
suspects' transfer, UN sanctions were immediately suspended. We 
will insist that Libya fulfill the remaining UNSCR requirements 
for lifting UN sanctions and are working with UN Secretary 
Annan and UN Security Council members to ensure that Libya does 
so promptly. U.S. unilateral sanctions remain in force, and I 
will continue to exercise the powers at my disposal to apply 
these sanctions fully and effectively, as long as they remain 
appropriate. I will continue to report periodically to the 
Congress on significant developments as required by law.

                                                William J. Clinton.
    The White House, July 19, 1999.

                                

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