The United States on Wednesday took a number of actions to ease the economic sanctions in opposition-controlled areas of Syria "for the benefit of the Syrian people, the Syrian Opposition Coalition and the opposition within Syria."
Secretary of State John Kerry signed a limited waiver of the Syria Accountability Act which will authorize the export or re-export of certain U.S.-origin items to liberated areas of Syria for the benefit of the Syrian people.
Currently the United States permits only the export of certain food and medicine to Syria. From now on, U.S. companies and persons will be allowed to export, subject to case by case review by the Commerce Department, a wide range of reconstruction-related equipment to opposition areas. They include a variety of agricultural equipment, equipment related for power generation, as well as water supply and sanitation type equipment to those liberated areas. Senior Administration officials in a special briefing made it clear that this is not a general license, but rather U.S. companies interested in engaging in these kinds of exports will be able to apply to the Department of Commerce for license to export those kinds of goods. "We see this action as a way of providing some concrete material benefit to people in those liberated areas because of the needs for reconstruction in those areas," the reporters were told.
Also, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, is issuing a Statement of Licensing Policy which will allow U.S. people to apply to OFAC for specific licenses that'll enable them to engage in certain activities in Syria. In particular, the Statement of Licensing Policy invites people to apply for licenses to engage in oil-related transactions for the benefit of Syrian opposition, including facilitating the export of oil from Syria for the benefit of the Syrian opposition, also to provide support to Syria's agricultural and telecommunications sectors. People wishing to engage in other kinds of transactions, particularly in liberated areas, within the scope of the Statement of Licensing Policy, are also invited to apply for licenses, the officials said.
And finally, the Department of Commerce is amending a general license, General License 11, that'll authorize additional NGOs to engage in activities to preserve cultural heritage sites and the cultural patrimony of Syria.
Companies interested in engaging in these transactions are required to apply and get specific licenses. Relevant U.S. Government department will review specific transactions to make sure that specifically sanctioned entities aren't able to participate in those transactions and that those transactions are actually for the benefit of the Syrian people.
A state Department official said "this is actually a broader series of actions we're taking today than just focusing on the export of U.S.-origin goods."
"I think we really see a wide range of potential of both actions that we would have liked to have seen happen to date already and actions we see going forward, including the ability to provide U.S. companies to sell water purification, agricultural equipment, other kinds of reconstruction-related equipment to Syria. We also see, potentially, participation of U.S. persons in those other kinds of activities that can be licensed to do for the benefit of the Syrian people," he added.
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