Screening Process: What Lists to be Used for Screening?

Ensuring the end-user or recipient of the exported products, software and technical data is not listed in the denied and sanctioned party lists further increases the difficulty of doing business worldwide or disclosing a technical data or software source code to foreign persons. Companies and organizations can diminish the risk of violation of the export control regulations by running the name of persons and entities against the above mentioned lists and identifying the possible name matches prior to an export or a business activity. This practice is commonly called as the Denied/restricted party screening process.

Organizations generally assume that U.S. Department of Commerce issued lists are the only lists that need to be used to screen a trade partner. The truth is that those are only some of the lists that require attention. It is recommended that a risk analysis should be done to determine which lists are needed to be used. Type of the business transactions and geographical factors would impose consideration of several other lists. For instance, an organization exporting to or doing business in another country should likely include the denied party lists that are issued by that country’s respective agencies. Companies that are involved in specific business activities, such as government contracts, healthcare or financial activities, should also use the lists that are issued by the agency regulating those transactions.

Ukraine-related Designation : Addition of Seven Individuals to the OFAC SDN List

On June 20, 2014, U.S. Department of the Treasury announced an update to OFAC’s List of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and Blocked Persons. Update includes addition of seven individuals to the OFAC SDN List.
The U.S. Government expands sanctions against the pro-Russian separatists and emphasizes that further sanctions will be imposed if Russia will continue support/sponsor unrests in eastern territory of Ukraine. David S. Cohen, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence noted that “Sanctioned individuals have all contributed to attempts to illegally undermine the legitimate government in Kyiv, notably by falsely proclaiming leadership positions and fomenting violent unrest.”
Four individuals were earlier sanctioned by either the EU or UK Governmental agencies. Bolotov, Girkin, Manyailo and Purgin were earlier added to the EU Sanction List whereas Ponomaryov, and all aforementioned individuals except Manyailo were added to the UK Treasury Consolidated List.

Companies and organizations should include these recently sanctioned and restricted parties into their export screening program.

The Lists of Individuals added to the OFAC SDN List as following:

BOLOTOV, Valery (a.k.a. BOLOTOV, Valeri; a.k.a. BOLOTOV, Valeriy); self-proclaimed governor of the separatist-controlled Luhansk region
GIRKIN, Igor Vsevolodovich (a.k.a. STRELKOV, Igor Ivanovich; a.k.a. STRELKOV, Ihor; a.k.a. STRELOK, Igor), – self-described “commander-in-chief of the Donetsk People’s Republic”
KAUROV, Valery Vladimirovich (a.k.a. KAUROV, Valerii Volodymyrovych; a.k.a. KAUROV, Valeriy; a.k.a. KAUROV, Valery); – self-proclaimed “president of Novorossiya”
MENYAILO, Sergei Ivanovich (a.k.a. MENYAILO, Sergei; a.k.a. MENYAILO, Sergey); – the de facto “acting governor” of Sevastopol
PONOMARYOV, Vyacheslav (a.k.a. PONOMAREV, Vyacheslav; a.k.a. PONOMARYOV, Vachislav); – a separatist leader
PURGIN, Andrey Yevgenyevich (a.k.a. PURGIN, Andrei; a.k.a. PURGIN, Andrej; a.k.a. PURGIN, Andriy; a.k.a. PURGYN, Andriy; a.k.a. PURHIN, Andriy) – self-proclaimed the co-head of a council running the separatist government in Donetsk
PUSHILIN, Denis (a.k.a. PUSHYLIN, Denis; a.k.a. PUSHYLIN, Denis Volodymyrovych; a.k.a. PUSHYLIN, Denys) – a leader of a group calling itself the “Donetsk People’s Republic,”