U.S. Appears Poised to Impose Sanctions on Syria
It appears likely that tomorrow, May 11, 2004, the U.S. will finally impose sanctions on Syria pursuant to the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003. As previously reported, The Syria Accountability Act was signed into law by President Bush on December 12, 2003 (P.L. 108-175 117 STAT. 2486).
While the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has already begun to implement unofficially the provision of the Syria Accountability Act that prohibits the export to Syria of any item on the United States Munitions List or Commerce Control List, Congress has been pressing the Administration to impose the additional sanctions on Syria as required by section 5(a)(2) of the Act. That provision requires the President to impose at least two out of the following six sanctions: (A) the prohibition of the export of products of the United States (other than food and medicine) to Syria; (B) Prohibiting United States businesses from investing or operating in Syria; (C) Restricting Syrian diplomats in Washington, D.C., and at the United Nations in New York City, to travel only within a 25-mile radius of Washington, D.C., or the United Nations headquarters building; (D) Prohibiting aircraft owned or controlled by Syria to take off from, land in, or overfly the United States; (E) Reducing United States diplomatic contacts with Syria; (F) Blocking transactions in any property in which the Government of Syria has any interest, by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Naturally, hard liners in Congress have been pressing for the total ban on exports to and investment in Syria.
While the details of the sanctions will not be known until the announcement is made, it appears likely that the U.S. may impose a total ban on the export of U.S.-origin products to Syria. Unfortunately, due to an error in the legislative drafting process section 5(a)(2)(A) of the Syrian Accountability Act only exempts U.S. origin "food and medicine" from the scope of any export restrictions that may be imposed by the President. As a result of this oversight, the Syrian Accountability Act fails to conform to Section 902 of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Enhancement Act of 2000, commonly known as "TSRA")(P.L. 106-387). TSRA specifies that "agricultural commodities, medicines and medical devices" must be excluded from the scope of any unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States.
Since the Syria Accountability Act was enacted into law in December 2003, various agricultural and medical device interests have been working behind the scenes in an effort to ensure that the decision makers at the White House and at the Departments of Commerce, State and Treasury will exclude "agricultural commodities, medicines and medical devices" from the sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Syria.
Agricultural products and medical devices are excluded from the sanctions currently imposed by the U.S. on Cuba, Iran and Sudan and it would be contrary to existing law if such humanitarian products were not excluded from any sanctions imposed on Syria.