OFAC updates guidance on North Korea maritime sanctions
- Published
by Admin
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), with the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Coast Guard, on Thursday (21 March) updated its advisory on addressing North Korea’s shipping practices.
“This advisory provides new information about North Korea’s deceptive shipping practices, additional guidance on how to mitigate the risk of involvement in these practices, a new graphic depicting certain ports of call, and three new annexes,” it states.
The new third annex provides specific guidance for UN Member States and relevant industry actors on best practices to avoid engaging in North Korea-related illicit activities.
The new fourth annex provides a list of 18 vessels that are believed to have engaged in illicit ship-to-ship transfers of refined petroleum with North Korean tanker vessels.
The new fifth annex provides a list of 49 vessels that are believed to have exported North Korean-origin coal.
“The U.S. government recommends that all parties involved in the shipping industry and related commercial entities — including ship owners, managers, and operators, brokers, flag registries, oil companies, port operators, shipping companies, classification service providers, insurance companies, and financial institutions — be aware of the practices set out in this advisory in order to implement appropriate controls to identify North Korea’s illicit shipping practices.”
The United Nations requires Member States to prohibit, among other things, the bunkering or servicing of North Korean vessels suspected of carrying prohibited items.
Photo credit: Ministry of Defense (Japan)
Published: 25 March, 2019
