TradeWinds Quotes Wynn Segall on New US Sanctions Guidance for Shipping Industry
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Akin Gump international trade partner Wynn Segall has been quoted in the TradeWinds article “With sanctions guidance, US details expectations for shipping,” which reports on new rules outlining the steps shipping can take to avoid running afoul of U.S. sanctions targeting North Korea, Syria and Iran.
According to Segall, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which manages the sanctions regime, “has drawn a line in the sand that puts companies on notice that this is a list of best practices they’re expected to follow.” If they do not follow them, he added, “they’ll be doing so at their own peril if things go wrong on a sanctions issue.”
The article says the new rules contain several pages where the U.S. government details recommendations specific to each part of the shipping industry. Segall said implementing the recommendations could improve a company’s ability to argue that they were not complicit, should any sanctions-busting activity take place.
“This gives you a menu of things you’d want to be able to point to in the way your compliance program works and safeguards that you have implemented that would help you to demonstrate to the agency, if a sanctions issue arises despite your best efforts, that really, you did everything right and you’re a victim and should not be held liable for penalties,” Segall noted.
