US Commerce Department to lift terror-related export restrictions on Sudan
The United States Department of Commerce (DoC) is set to publish an amendment to its regulations that would eliminate export restrictions that were imposed on Sudan because of its previous inclusion on the U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism.
President Donald Trump notified Congress in late October of his decision to rescind Sudan’s terror designation, but it only took effect on December 14th after U.S. Secretary of State published a formal notice on the matter.
However, the impact of rescission could not be immediately felt by Sudan without amendment of the controls put in place and enforced by the DoC’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) that prohibits a wide array of exports to the East African nation without permission in the form of a license.
These restricted exports include electronics, computer software, agricultural commodities, medicine, medical devices and other technological items.
BIS said it in its new rule that is scheduled to be published next Tuesday that is amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement Sudan’s removal from the terrorism blacklist.
“Accordingly, BIS amends the EAR by removing Anti-Terrorism (AT) controls on the country and by removing Sudan from Country Group E:1 (Terrorist supporting countries)” BIS said.
“Additionally, it adds Sudan to Country Group B in Supplement No. 1 to part 740. As a general matter, countries in Country Group B are eligible for a greater number of license exceptions, and they are subject to relatively less stringent license review policies”.
Despite the lifting of the comprehensive economic sanctions in 2017, many U.S. companies maintained rules that prohibited any dealings with Sudan because of the terrorism designation.
“Today, Sudan is not subject to any economic sanctions administered by OFAC, however, Sudan is still subject to export licensing requirements imposed by BIS for U.S. exports of most items, software and technology.” Apple Inc. says on its website.
In an emailed response to the Sudan Tribune last month, the business software maker Oracle Corp. said that it is waiting on BIS to amend its rules regarding Sudan before removing the latter from the list of prohibited destinations.
