On April 19, 2022, Treasury issued Russia-related General License (GL) 27, authorizing “Certain Transactions in Support of Nongovernmental Organizations’ Activities.” Alongside this, Treasury issued an accompanying Fact Sheet on “Preserving Agricultural Trade, Access to Communication, and Other Support to Those Impacted by Russia’s War Against Ukraine.”

Russia-related GL 27 authorizes “all transactions ordinarily incident and necessary to the activities described in paragraph (b) by nongovernmental organizations that are prohibited by the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 587 (RuHSR)… provided that the only involvement of blocked persons is the processing of funds by financial institutions blocked pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14024.”

The specific activities authorized in paragraph (b) include:

  • Humanitarian activities in Ukraine and Russia “including drought and flood relief; food, nutrition, and medicine distribution; the provision of health services; assistance for vulnerable or displaced populations, including individuals with disabilities and the elderly; and environmental programs;”
  • Democracy building activities in Ukraine and Russia “including activities to support rule of law, citizen participation, government accountability and transparency, human rights and fundamental freedoms, access to information, and civil society development projects;”
  • Education activities in Ukraine and Russia “including combating illiteracy, increasing access to education, international exchanges, and assisting education reform projects;”
  • Non-commercial development activities “directly benefiting the people of Ukraine or the Russian Federation, including those related to health, food security, and water and sanitation; and”
  • Environmental and natural resource protection activities in Ukraine and Russia “including the preservation and protection of threatened or endangered species, responsible and transparent management of natural resources, and the remediation of pollution or other environmental damage.”

The accompanying Fact Sheet offers background on the U.S. imposition of sanctions on Russia and parts of Ukraine, and outlines steps taken by Treasury to protect the populations of Ukraine and Russia from the unintended consequences of these unprecedented sanctions. In addition to summarizing Russia-related GL 27, the fact sheet also summarizes a long list of other GLs, authorizations, and FAQs related to sanctions on Russia and parts of Ukraine. The Fact Sheet also states that “As Treasury receives additional feedback, OFAC will continue to evaluate the need for additional authorizations in support of people impacted by Russia’s war.”

C&SN welcomes this GL and the accompanying Fact Sheet. It provides important enhancements for individuals and nongovernmental organizations attempting to operate under the sanctions regime targeting Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Treasury should be applauded for taking a broad approach to protecting NGO activities in Russia and Ukraine. Treasury could further improve its approach by issuing additional GLs to explicitly protect peacebuilding, conflict mitigation and atrocity prevention activities.

Moreover, the Russia-Ukraine context is another case that illustrates the potential advantages of implementing a Global General License approach. A Global GL would protect all legitimate civil society activities in every sanctioned context. Such an approach would be more efficient for both the organizations operating in sanctioned areas, and for Treasury, as it would eliminate the need to draft and issue GLs each time new sanctions are issued. Further, it would enable OFAC to streamline their processes and circumvent their current method of “continu[ing] to evaluate the need for additional authorizations in support of people impacted by… war” on a case-by-case basis.