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Knowledge, Lead article

Permitted and still blocked: the heart of the problem

· Helfen statt Blockieren editorial team

Food, medicines and humanitarian aid are exempt in almost all sanctions programmes. Even so, they often fail to arrive. The reason is rarely a ban. It lies in conditions, in the caution of banks and suppliers and in obstacles within the target country itself. This is the heart of what the week “Helfen statt Blockieren” sets out to show.

Knowledge in seven steps: steps 4 and 5

2664is the UN Security Council resolution of 9 Dec 2022 that exempts humanitarian aid from all UN asset freezesUN Security Council, SC/15134
476.74 millionUS dollars of US farm exports to Cuba in 2025, mainly poultryUS Department of Agriculture
206.1 billionUS dollars was the 2023 cost of financial crime compliance for financial institutions worldwideLexisNexis Risk Solutions, 26 Sep 2023
99 dayswas the average time for a UN exemption for aid to North Korea in 201838 North, 22 Aug 2019

What is permitted

Since 2022 the legal position for aid has improved markedly. The United Nations, the EU and the US have created exemptions that expressly allow humanitarian aid, food and medicine. Firms in the EU also have a protective law of their own: the 1996 Blocking Statute forbids them to comply with certain US laws. The timeline shows the main steps; all EU legal acts with references are listed in “What the EU has done”.

  1. EU Blocking StatuteFirms in the EU may not comply with the listed US laws on Cuba, and later on Iran.
  2. US law TSRAFarm goods, medicines and medical devices are exempted from the Cuba embargo, with conditions: one-year licences, cash in advance or a letter of credit from a third-country bank, no US financing.
  3. UN exemption for AfghanistanHumanitarian aid is permitted despite the listing of the Taliban.
  4. UN Resolution 2664Funds for humanitarian aid and basic needs fall outside UN asset freezes.
  5. US general licencesThe US Treasury permits farm goods, medicines and medical devices also in programmes that had no humanitarian exemption until then.
  6. EU Regulation 2023/331The EU adopts the UN exemption in its regimes that implement UN lists.
  7. EU counter-terrorism frameworkThe Council introduces a humanitarian exemption there as well, initially for twelve months.
  8. UN Resolution 2761The exemption applies indefinitely in the ISIL and Al-Qaida regime.
  9. CJEU, case C-81/24A bank may not refuse a basic account solely because of a listing in a third country; it must assess the individual case.

Why permitted goods get stuck

Between “permitted” and “arrived” lie four locks that work together.

The conditions. Exemptions come with requirements. US farm deliveries to Cuba must be paid for in advance or financed through a bank in a third country. Each condition can be met on its own; together they deter.

The bank. A cross-border payment runs through correspondent banks. If the data show a country or a name resembling a listed one, screening is triggered. Many institutions then refuse, because the return on a single deal bears no relation to the risk. In 2022 the European Banking Authority found that banks with dollar clearing do no business with persons on US lists, even where those lists differ from the EU’s, and called the rejection of entire customer groups without assessing the individual case “unwarranted de-risking”. After the UN exemption for Afghanistan, only a few banks accepted transfers all the same; a representative of the InterAction alliance said they simply did not want to be involved.

The supply chain. Many medical devices contain US components or software that even a supplier from a third country may not simply pass on to Cuba. Shipping lines avoid ports after which they may not call at the US for 180 days. In Iran a European manufacturer stopped selling permitted special dressings for children.

The target country. Obstacles arise there too. According to the authorities, private firms in Cuba have been allowed to import directly only since 2026. Central planning, scarce foreign currency and an administration that pushes decisions upwards slow down permitted trade as well. After Hurricane Melissa, Cuba reportedly received 20 to 25 times less aid funding than Jamaica, according to information submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur; the source does not say how much of this is due to banks and sanctions and how much to other reasons.

What the path of a payment and of goods looks like station by station, and where it stalls, is explained in “Why a permitted payment gets stuck”. The consequences for Cuba in detail are described in “Over-compliance: when what is permitted does not arrive”.

What EU law says

For companies in the EU, pre-emptive compliance with the listed US laws is not just cautious but prohibited. In the Bank Melli case of 2021 the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that the prohibition applies even when no US authority has ordered anything; a termination without reasons shortly after a US listing may be invalid. At the same time the courts examine whether the prohibition places a disproportionate burden on a company. The Blocking Statute does not, however, open access to the US market or cancel any US penalty, and it is enforced mainly when an affected party sues. The 30th anniversary review is in “30 years of the Blocking Statute”.

How aid still gets through

It gets through where someone makes the check easy and knows the route. After the earthquakes in Syria in February 2023, the US issued a general licence for 180 days within three days, and the EU published questions and answers on its exemption. On the first anniversary of Resolution 2664 the Norwegian Refugee Council wrote that it had allowed it to help people more efficiently, effectively and safely. The three aid organisations of the week work with their own partners in Cuba; donations go directly to them, not to the organiser (aid organisations of the week). For traders, Helfen statt Blockieren proposes a file per transaction, always structured the same way, that shows the bank the deal is permitted (“The trade file”).

Both sides of the obstacle

The US justifies its Cuba policy with the policy of the Cuban government; Secretary of State Rubio said the list of restricted companies was meant to deprive the parts of the regime controlled by the military and intelligence services of funds. After the UN vote on 28 October 2026, Cuba’s foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla spoke of the US government’s attempt “to continue strangling the Cuban people”. Both are documented at once: the US embargo narrows the path of permitted goods and payments, and the Cuban leadership builds obstacles of its own and persecutes people for political reasons: Prisoners Defenders counted 1,351 political prisoners on 30 September 2026, 496 of them convicted but not in prison. In June 2026 the government announced 176 measures meant to give private firms more room; how quickly they will be implemented is open.

What nobody counts

There is no official figure for refused or delayed permitted payments, neither in Germany nor in the EU. Anyone discussing it has individual cases, surveys and estimates. This is the largest gap in the entire subject. What companies, banks and individuals can do about it is the next step.

This lead article is information, not legal advice. It reflects the view of the editorial team and relies on the sources listed and the linked building blocks. “Helfen statt Blockieren” is non-partisan.

Sources

All online sources accessed on 3 November 2026.

All seven steps