On February 16, 2024, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued a Compliance Communiqué containing Guidance for the Provision of Humanitarian-Related Assistance and Critical Commodities to the Yemeni People (“Guidance”). The Guidance follows the January 17, 2024 announcement of the redesignation of Ansarallah (or Ansar Allah), commonly known as the Houthis, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (“SDGT”) , which became effective on February 16, 2024. The same day, OFAC also issued General License (“GL”) 28 “Authorizing Transactions for Third-Country Diplomatic and Consular Missions Involving Ansarallah.” For more on Ansarallah’s designation as an SDGT, please see our previous blog post.
The Guidance
The Guidance seeks to reassure private-sector shippers and nongovernmental and humanitarian actors that Ansarallah’s designation does not amount to sanctions on Yemen and is not intended to prevent assistance to, and trade with, the Yemeni people.
The Guidance outlines the GLs that may be relevant to the provision of humanitarian-related assistance to and other trade with the Yemeni people and also answers 11 Yemen-specific frequently asked questions that do not appear on OFAC’s consolidated FAQs website, including questions related to:
- NGOs assisting in the construction and repair of hospitals and other non-commercial infrastructure under Ansarallah control;
- the effect that an Ansarallah member having a leadership role in an administrative agency has on the sanctions status of that agency (generally none);
- how to tell if a person or entity is a member of Ansarallah (OFAC recommends internal due diligence in conjunction with open-source material);
- transactions with the Central Bank of Yemen or other Yemeni banks that are or appear to be controlled by Ansarallah;
- persuading reluctant financial institutions to process transfers authorized by OFAC regulations/GLs; and
- coordination with Ansarallah regarding the transfer or distribution of humanitarian goods.
General License 28
GL 28 provides authorization to engage in transactions involving Ansarallah, or any entity that is owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by Ansarallah, that are ordinarily incident and necessary to the official business of third-country diplomatic or consular missions to Yemen. GL 28 supplements the five Ansarallah-related GLs that were announced on January 17, 2024 and became effective on February 16, 2024. For more on these five GLs, please see our previous blog post.
If you have questions related to shipments to or within Yemen, please contact a member of our Trade team.
