OFAC regulation removed

OFAC regulation removed

Nevanji Munyaradzi Chiondegwa

In a move that has put paid to denials of sanctions on Zimbabwe, The United States Treasury has published the final notice of the removal of OFAC sanctions imposed in 2003 to remove the Zimbabwe Sanctions Regulations.

“The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is removing from the Code of Federal Regulations the Zimbabwe Sanctions Regulations as a result of the termination of the national emergency on which the regulations were based,” read a notice on the OFAC website accompanied by the terminated rule.

The move follows last month’s executive order by US President Joe Biden repealing the first order issued in March 2003 which blocked property of several political leaders and entities in Zimbabwe for “undermining democratic processes or institutions in Zimbabwe.” The then US President George W Bush had determined that actions and policies of certain members of the Zimbabwean government and others had contributed to the breakdown of law in Zimbabwe.

The order also accused the government then led by the late President Robert Mugabe of promoting politically-motivated violence and intimidation in the country and was responsible for the political and economic instability in the southern African region.

Bush said the government also “constituted an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States” before declaring a national emergency to deal with the threat. The restrictions were subsequently renewed over the years until their removal this year.

In publishing the termination of the OFAC rule, the US Treasury said, “The rule is currently available for public inspection with the Federal Register and will take effect upon publication in the Federal Register on April 17, 2024.”