Embargo

An embargo is a government or multilateral ban on trade with a specified country, entity, or class of goods, used as a foreign-policy or security instrument. It can be comprehensive, covering nearly all trade with a destination, or targeted at particular goods, sectors, or listed persons, and is enforced by customs and export-control authorities through licensing refusals, denied-party screening, and seizures. Embargoes flow from UN Security Council resolutions, EU restrictive measures, or national programs such as those administered by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Breaching an embargo exposes the trader to civil and criminal penalties and loss of export privileges.