[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 56 (Thursday, March 22, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12513-12514]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05638]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of Foreign Assets Control

31 CFR Parts 538 and 560


Effectiveness of Licensing Procedures for Exportation of 
Agricultural Commodities, Medicine, and Medical Devices to Sudan and 
Iran; Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets 
Control (OFAC) is soliciting comments on the effectiveness of OFAC's 
licensing procedures for the exportation of agricultural commodities, 
medicine, and medical devices to Sudan and Iran. Pursuant to section 
906(c) of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 
2000, OFAC is required to submit a biennial report to the Congress on 
the operation of licensing procedures for such exports.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before April 23, 2018 
to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    Fax: Attn: Request for Comments (TSRA) (202) 622-0447.
    Mail: Attn: Request for Comments (TSRA), Office of Foreign Assets 
Control, Department of the Treasury, Freedman's Bank Building, 1500 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20220.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
about these licensing procedures should be directed to Davin 
Blackborow, Assistant Director, Licensing Division, Office of Foreign 
Assets Control, Department of the Treasury, Freedman's Bank Building, 
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20220, telephone: (202) 
622-2480. Additional information about these licensing procedures is 
also available at www.treasury.gov/tsra.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The current procedures used by OFAC pursuant 
to the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (Title 
IX of Pub. L. 106-387, 22 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.) (the ``Act'') for 
authorizing the export of agricultural commodities, medicine, and 
medical devices to Iran are set forth in 31 CFR 560.530 through 
560.533. Effective October 12, 2017, sections 1 and 2 of Executive 
Order (E.O.) 13067 of November 3, 1997 and all of E.O. 13412 of October 
13, 2006 were revoked, pursuant to E.O. 13761 of January 13, 2017, as 
amended by E.O. 13804 of July 11, 2017. As a result of the revocation 
of these sanctions provisions, effective October 12, 2017, U.S. persons 
are no longer prohibited from engaging in transactions that were 
previously prohibited under the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR 
part 538. However, pursuant to the Act, an OFAC license is still 
required for exports and reexports to the Government of Sudan or any 
other entity in Sudan of agricultural commodities, medicine, and 
medical devices as a result of Sudan's inclusion on the State Sponsors 
of Terrorism List. These exports and reexports are generally licensed 
by OFAC. Under the provisions of section 906(c) of the Act, OFAC must 
submit a biennial report to the Congress on the operation, during the 
preceding two-year period, of the licensing procedures required by 
section 906 of the Act for the export of agricultural commodities, 
medicine, and medical devices to Sudan and Iran. This report is to 
include:
    (1) The number and types of licenses applied for;

[[Page 12514]]

    (2) The number and types of licenses approved;
    (3) The average amount of time elapsed from the date of filing of a 
license application until the date of its approval;
    (4) The extent to which the licensing procedures were effectively 
implemented; and
    (5) A description of comments received from interested parties 
about the extent to which the licensing procedures were effective, 
after holding a public 30-day comment period.
    This document solicits comments from interested parties regarding 
the effectiveness of OFAC's licensing procedures for the export of 
agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices to Sudan and 
Iran for the time period of October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2016. 
Interested parties submitting comments are asked to be as specific as 
possible. In the interest of accuracy and completeness, OFAC requires 
written comments. All comments received on or before April 23, 2018 
will be considered by OFAC in developing the report to the Congress. 
Consideration of comments received after the end of the comment period 
cannot be assured.
    All comments made will be a matter of public record. OFAC will not 
accept comments accompanied by a request that part or all of the 
comments be treated confidentially because of their business 
proprietary nature or for any other reason; OFAC will not consider them 
and will return such comments when submitted by regular mail to the 
person submitting the comments.
    Copies of past biennial reports may be obtained from OFAC's website 
(www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Pages/lic-agmed-index.aspx). Written requests may be sent to: Office of Foreign Assets 
Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Freedman's Bank Building, 
1500 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20220, Attn: Assistant 
Director for Licensing.

    Note 1:  On December 23, 2016, OFAC published amendments to the 
Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 560, to 
expand the scope of medical devices and agricultural commodities 
generally authorized for export or reexport to Iran pursuant to the 
Act. This amendment also included new or expanded authorizations 
related to training, replacement parts, software, and services for 
the operation, maintenance, and repair of medical devices, and items 
that are broken or connected to product recalls or other safety 
concerns. Accordingly, specific licenses are no longer required for 
these transactions.


John E. Smith,
Director, Office of Foreign Assets Control.
[FR Doc. 2018-05638 Filed 3-21-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-25-P