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28Maritime Reporter & Engineering News Impact of Sanctions The primary focus of last year?s annual update, which appeared in the April 2011 issue, was U.S. efforts to tighten eco- nomic sanctions against Iran. Over the past year, U.S. pressure on Iran has in- tensified. Syria also has been a target of new U.S. sanctions, while the sanctions against Libya imposed in early 2011 have been eliminated for all practical purposesby a series of general licenses. Our 2012update concentrates on these key U.S. de- velopments, but readers should be aware that these were not the only recentchanges to U.S. and international sanc-tions programs. Keeping abreast of all applicable embargoes and sanctions re- mains a priority for international busi- nesses. Iran Last year?s update focused on amend- ments to the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) which targeted the provision of services in support of various aspects of Iran?s pe- troleum industry, including provision of ships or shipping services. Unprece-dented enforcement efforts over the past year have brought to 13 the number of companies in the maritime, petroleumand other sectors now subject to sanc- tions under the ISA. Effective November 21, 2011, the scope of sanctions against Iran?s petro- leum industry was expanded by Execu- tive Order 13590, which imposed ?ISA-like? sanctions against persons pro- viding goods, services, technology orsupport for the development of Iran?s pe- troleum resources or the maintenance orexpansion of its petrochemical sector. As under the ISA, sanctionable activity is subject to certain value thresholds. In the case of provision of services in sup- port of development of petroleum re- sources, sanctions are triggered byservices with a fair market value of $250,000 or an aggregate fair market value of $1,000,000 or more during any twelve-month period. The corresponding thresholds for services in support of thepetrochemical sector are $1,000,000 and$5,000,000. Sanctions that can be im-posed are similar to those provided for under the ISA.On December 31, 2011, the Presidentsigned into law the National Defense Au- thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (?NDAA?). Section 1245 of this statute requires the President to block the prop-erty and interests in property subject toU.S. jurisdiction of all Iranian financial institutions, including the Central Bankof Iran (?CBI?). The required asset freeze was implemented on February 5, 2012 by Executive Order 13599, which also blocked all property and interests in property of the Government of Iran. Sec- tion 1245 also aims to reduce Iranian oilrevenues and discourage transactions with the CBI by providing for sanctions on foreign financial institutions that knowingly conduct or facilitate certain significant financial transactions with the CBI. Although the sanctions on foreign financial institutions authorized by sec- tion 1245 are similar to the financial sanctions required to be imposed underthe ISA (i.e., prohibiting and/or imposingstrict conditions on opening or maintain-ing correspondent accounts or payable-through accounts in the United States),there are differences in the scope and op- eration of the two statutes. Currently, the sanctions apply to all significant financial transactions with the CBI except those re- lating to the sale of food, medicine, ormedical devices to Iran, and transactions for the sale or purchase of petroleum orpetroleum products to or from Iran. OnMarch 30, 2012, the President took theexpected step of determining that there is a sufficient supply of petroleum and pe- troleum products from countries otherthan Iran to permit a significant reduction in the volume of petroleum and petro- leum products purchased from Iran by orthrough foreign financial institutions, thereby paving the way for the extension of the sanctions to petroleum-relatedtransactions. On March 20, however, the Annual Update on U.S. Economic Sanctions and Export Controls and the impact on the maritime business. By Barbara D. Linney and Kevin J. MillerUnprecedented enforcement efforts over the past year havebrought to 13 the number of companies inthe maritime, petroleum and other sectors nowsubject to sanctionsunder the ISA. MR May 12 # 4 (25-33):MR Template 4/27/2012 11:33 AM Page 28