Developments in Economic Sanctions & Restricted Parties

2022 Entity List Additions

As of August 24th 2022, The U.S. government has added 7 entities to its entity list that U.S. persons and organizations must treat with caution. Of the 7 entities listed, 6 are research institutes that are now subject to additional export control restrictions:

  • China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) 9th Academy 771 Research Institute;
  • China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) 9th Academy 772 Research Institute;
  • China Academy of Space Technology 502 Research Institute;
  • China Academy of Space Technology 513 Research Institute;
  • China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 43 Research Institute;
  • China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 58 Research Institute.

2022 Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added regulations to implement an Executive order related to specified harmful foreign activities of the Government of the Russian Federation. For more information on these sanctions please visit the Federal Register notice about this update. To learn more about the impact of these sanctions on Columbia activities, please visit Columbia's Economic Sanctions and Restricted Parties website.


2022 Sanctions Imposed Against Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) regions of Ukraine

As of February 22nd 2022, the U.S. government has imposed a new sanctions regime in response to continued Russian efforts to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Visit the treasury department's website to learn more about the situation in Ukraine and the response taken by the United States. To learn more about the impact of these sanctions on Columbia activities, please visit Columbia's Economic Sanctions and Restricted Parties website.


2022 Targeted Sanctions Imposed Against Belarus

As part of the response from the United States to Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned 24 Belarusian individuals and entities due to Belarus’s support for, and facilitation of, the invasion. OFAC has sanctioned two significant state-owned banks and various entities related to the defense and related materiel sector of the Belarus economy. In addition to targeting defense industry entities, OFAC is also taking action against several senior Government of Belarus security apparatus officials. For more information about these sanctions please visit the treasury department's website. To learn more about the impact of these sanctions on Columbia activities, please visit Columbia's Economic Sanctions and Restricted Parties website.


2022 Additions to the Commerce Department’s Unverified List

The U.S. Commerce Department added 33 entities in China to its “Unverified List” that U.S. persons and organizations must treat with caution. Of the 33 newly added entities, two are universities and research institutes that are now subject to additional export control restrictions; Hunan University State Key Lab of Chemo/Biosensing & Chemometrics and Southern University of Science and Technology, Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering. For more information please see the Federal Register notice about this update.


2021 Targeted Sanctions Imposed Against Ethiopia

As of September 17th 2021, the U.S. government has imposed new sanctions on certain persons with respect to the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Ethiopia. Visit the treasury department's website to learn more about the situation in Ethiopia and the response taken by the United States.


2021 Targeted Sanctions Imposed Against Myanmar

As of February 11th 2021, the U.S. government has imposed a new sanctions regime in response to the Burmese military’s coup against the democratically elected civilian government of Burma. Visit the treasury department's website to learn more about the situation in Myanmar and the response taken by the United States.


2020 Entity List Additions

On of December 18th 2020, the Commerce Department added seventy-seven (77) entities to the Entity List, including the UAV manufacturing company DJI, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), and five Chinese universities (Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing University of Posts & Telecommunications, Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Nanjing University of Science & Technology, and Tianjin University). For more information about this rule and a complete list of the entities added, please see the Federal Register Notice. For an updated list of restricted universities, please visit Columbia’s Sanctions and Restricted Parties website.


2020 Updates to BIS Unverified List

26 entities have been added and 40 entities removed from the Unverified list as of October 9th 2020. Sun Yat-Sen University is the only university that has been added to the UVL. Notable removals are: Renmin University, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Tongji University, Xi’an Jiaotong University and Yunnan Observatories (Chinese Academy of Sciences). For more information on restricted parties please visit ORCT’s Economic Sanctions and Restricted Parties webpage.


2020 Updates to the Cuba Restricted List

The Department of State has published an update to its List of Restricted Entities and Subentities Associated with Cuba (Cuba Restricted List). The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) generally will deny applications to export or reexport items for use by entities or subentities on the Cuba Restricted List. For more information on the specific entities that have been restricted please review the Federal Register Notice


2020 Restriction on Certain Chinese Origin Telecommunications Equipment or Services

As of August 13, 2020, federal agencies are prohibited from entering into contracts with an entity that uses certain telecommunications or video surveillance equipment or services produced by Huawei Technologies Company, ZTE Corporation, Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company, Dahua Technology Company, or subsidiaries or affiliates of these companies.  For more information about this prohibition and for a list of these companies’ subsidiaries and affiliates, visit Columbia’s Sanctions and Restricted Parties webpage.


2020 Entity List Additions

The U.S. Commerce Department added 33 entities to its Entity List. Harbin Institute of Technology and Harbin Engineering University are among the new additions to the Entity list. According to the Commerce department, the entities, based in China, Hong Kong, and the Cayman Islands, represent a significant risk of supporting procurement of items for military end-use in China or have been involved in human rights violations and abuses. Among the entities listed are 7 universities and research institutes. For more information please visit ORCT’s Economic Sanctions and Restricted Parties webpage.


2020 Monthly Visual Compliance Trainings

Columbia’s online screening tool, Visual Compliance, allows you to quickly determine whether an entity or individual appears on OFAC’s SDN List, OFAC’s Consolidated Sanctions List, or other U.S. Restricted Party List. Research Compliance and Training will now be offering monthly Visual Compliance training to the Columbia University community. For more information please contact Janique Cheesman at [email protected]


2019 Comprehensive Sanctions imposed against Venezuela

On August 5th 2019, the United States government imposed comprehensive sanctions against Venezuela. Comprehensive sanctions prohibit transactions with a country’s government and virtually all other transactions, including exports/imports, involving the sanctioned country. To learn more about these restrictions please visit ORCT’s Economic Sanctions and Restricted Parties webpage.


2018 Additions to the Commerce Department’s Unverified List

The U.S. Commerce Department added 13 universities and research institutes in China to its list of “unverified” entities that U.S. persons and organizations must treat with caution. These universities and research institutes are now subject to additional export control restrictions. For more information please see the Federal Register notice about this update.