Afghanistan sanctions and blacklists

Afghanistan’s challenging business environment is made more difficult for multinational Clients because of the range of economic and political sanctions placed on the country. A summary of embargoes is below:

• New developments

  • The US and Taliban signed a peace agreement on 29 February 2020 that will see withdrawal of NATO and US forces from Afghanistan within 14 months;
  • The agreement also seeks to start diplomatic engagements with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to remove all sanctions against Afghanistan;
  • In 2019 the EU added Afghanistan back to the money laundering blacklist due to weak AML/CFT regimes;
  • Currently the USA imposes no sanctions on Afghanistan.

• Existing sanctions against individuals and legal entities

  • Financial sanctions and asset freeze of at least 136 entities in Afghanistan by the EU;
  • Freezing of funds for entities, legal persons and groups associated with, or are parts of, the Taliban;
  • Travel restrictions of natural persons named in the sanctions list;
  • Arms embargos and restrictions on legal and natural persons, groups and entities associated with, or part of, the Taliban;
  • Prohibition to provide technical services, including training related to military activities, to any entities designated by the UN;
  • The UK government maintains a consolidated list of Financial Sanctions Targets of Afghan individuals in the UK.