Sanctions

What are sanctions?

Page last updated 12/07/24

Sanctions are restrictive measures that can be put in place to fulfil a range of purposes. In the UK, these purposes include complying with UN and other international obligations, supporting foreign policy and national security objectives, as well as maintaining international peace and security.

Sanctions can include trade restrictions, asset freezes and travel bans. Sanctions lists are regularly updated and cover individuals and entities from around the world, across a variety of sectors with different rules for different regimes.

Countries subject to sanctions

Countries currently subject to UK sanctions are listed in the table below - please click on the county's link for more details of the specific restrictions in place.

Additionally, the University must comply with US sanctions [1]as many of the areas of University activity are covered by US sanctions, and as we also work with funders or partners who themselves must comply with US Sanctions. All of the countries sanctioned by the UK are also sanctioned by the US but the US sanction regime can include additional countries as indicated in the list below.

Region	Countries subject to UK and US sanctions
Africa	Burundi [2] - no longer sanction by UK as from 14 May 2024 Central African Republic [3] - financial and trade sanctions Democratic Republic of Congo [4] - financial and trade sanctions Ethiopia - US sanctions only Guinea [5]- financial sanctions Republic of Guinea-Bissau [6] -financial sanctions Mali [7] - financial sanctions Somalia [8] - financial and trade sanctions South Sudan [9] - financial and trade sanctions Sudan [10] - financial and trade sanctions Zimbabwe [11] - financial and trade sanctions
Asia	Afghanistan [12] - financial and trade sanctions [13] China [14] - UK arms embargo only Chinese military-industrial complex companies - US financial sanctions only Democratic People's Republic of Korea [15] - financial and trade sanctions Hong Kong - UK arms embargo [14] and US financial sanctions Myanmar [16] (formerly Burma) financial and trade sanctions Russia [17] - financial and trade sanctions
Central America	Cuba - US sanctions only Haiti [18] - financial sanctions Nicaragua [19] - financial sanctions
Europe	Belarus [20] - financial and trade sanctions Bosnia and Herzegovina [21] - financial sanctions Russia [17] - financial and trade sanctions Ukraine -non government controlled territories [22] - financial and trade sanctions Crimea (the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol) Donetsk Kherson Luhansk Zaporizhzhia Western Balkans - US sanctions only
Middle East	Iran [23] - financial sanctions. Trade sanctions in relating to nuclear weapons and human rights. Iraq [24] - financial and trade sanctions Lebanon [25] - financial and trade sanctions Libya [26] - financial and trade sanctions Syria [27] - financial and trade sanctions West Bank - US Sanctions only Yemen [28] - financial and trade sanctions
South America	Venezuela [29] - financial and trade sanctions

Non- country specific financial sanctions on those connected to terrorist groups and specified activities

Chemical weapons - [30] sanctions in place for those involved with the proliferation and use of chemical weapons.
Counter-terrorism [31] - financial sanctions applied to those with assessed involvement in terrorist activity.
Cyber [32] - sanctions in place for those involved in certain cyber activity
Global anti-corruption [33]- sanctions for those involved in serious corruption or linked to those involved with serious corruption
Global human rights [34]
International counter-terrorism [35]
ISIL (Da'esh) and Al- Qaida organisations [36]
Unauthorised drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean sanctions [37]

For more information and help on sanctions

	UK Sanctions	US Sanctions
General	UK Sanctions general guidance [38]	US Sanctions general guidance [39]
Financial sanctions	University Triage Group for sanctions re Russia, Belarus and non-government Ukraine territory including Crimea (see above) Check the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation [40] (OFSI) list See the Government’s lists of Financial sanctions targets by regime. [41]	Check the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list [42]for individuals and organisations list Counties subject to the US Economic Sanctions programs [1]
Trade sanctions	For any exports or sales of services contact the Export Controls Team, [43] in the Research Operations Office and refer to ROO sanctions guidance [44]
Trade sanctions	For imports please contact the University’s Import Export Hub at importexporthub@admin.cam.ac.uk [45]

Triage group: support for departments and institutions

A triage group has been created to support departments and institutions if they have any concerns regarding activities that may be subject to sanctions. The triage group includes members of the Finance Division and Legal Services Division and has links with Research Operations Office (ROO), the University’s Import and Export Hub and Cambridge University Press and Assessment (CUP&A).

Email the Triage Group at fin_sanctions@admin.cam.ac.uk [46] and provide the following information:

full names (and any known aliases) of all parties or entities
the nature and details of the transaction/connection e.g.
- details of any goods or services, reason for reimbursement
- has this already occurred or is it planned for the future
- dates of delivery and how shipped/provided
- where they have been performed or shipped to/from
any existing contracts
estimate of values involved
proposed methods of funds transfers including bank and account names
any other information that may be of use.