Fifteen committees, fifteen rule sets.
Each spoke on the dial below is one active UN sanctions regime, governed by its own Security Council committee and its own listing criteria. Click any spoke to read why it matters to a German or Baltic operator.
UN sanctions are adopted under Article 41 of the UN Charter as non-military enforcement measures. Since 1966 the Security Council has established 31 regimes; today, 15 remain active. The UN Consolidated List is a technical screening aid — a company must still consult the underlying committee, because the measures attached to a name differ by regime.
ISIL · Da'esh · Al-Qaida
The Security Council's flagship counter-terrorism regime. Asset freezes, travel bans and arms embargoes against listed individuals, entities, charities and conduits. For EU operators the exposure is pervasive: payments, donations, IT services, hosting, and crypto rails can all touch a listed party indirectly.
Three layers, one obligation.
UN sanctions reach a Riga or Munich operator through three strata. Click each to see what it adds. The binding text on a Tuesday morning is rarely the UN resolution itself — it is the EU regulation, applied through national authorities.
Security Council resolutions & committee decisions
Article 41 measures: arms embargoes, travel bans, asset freezes, commodity restrictions, financial restrictions. Listing criteria and exemption rules are defined in committee guidelines, not the resolution alone.
ForceBinding on Member States
ReachIndirect — via implementation
Council Decisions (CFSP) and directly applicable Regulations
The EU implements UN measures and adds autonomous restrictions — Russia, Belarus, Iran, Syria, terrorism, cyber, chemical weapons, human rights. Over 40 EU regimes operate, some UN-mandated, some not. This is the layer that actually binds your contract.
ForceDirectly applicable, all MS
ReachEU territory · EU persons · biz in EU
Licensing · enforcement · penalties
Member States investigate, license, supervise, and penalise. In Germany goods go to BAFA, funds to the Bundesbank. In Estonia the FIU handles financial sanctions, the MTA handles import/export. Latvia routes through the FIU Latvia. Lithuania through the FCIS for financial sanctions.
ForceCriminal · administrative
ReachYou, on a workday
A regime is only as relevant as it is operational.
Eight regimes vs. six control surfaces a German or Baltic compliance officer will actually feel on a Wednesday. Read across, not down.
Regime × control surface
Heat reflects realistic exposure for an EU-incorporated trading, logistics, IT or financial operator — not the UN regime's nominal severity. Hover a cell for a callout.
Four dossiers, four playbooks.
List screening alone catches the obvious. The harder risk is indirect exposure to actors who run sophisticated procurement networks. Click each dossier.
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
FATF identifies the DPRK as the most significant state actor subject to UN sanctions and the FATF Standards. Its procurement networks acquire dual-use goods, technology and knowledge through front companies, intermediaries in third countries, and complex ownership structures.
Specific vectors include fraudulent IT workers, OTC crypto brokers, laptop farms, diplomatic channels, and conversion of crypto assets into fiat through unrelated front-company bank accounts.
Operational red flags
- Remote IT contractor refusing video verification
- Crypto-only payment terms from a developer
- Importer in third country with no product history
- Small frequent shipments of dual-use components
- Bank accounts held by unrelated trading companies
- Logistics routed via high-risk transshipment hubs
Iran
Not all Iran restrictions are UN-based, but Iran remains a high-risk jurisdiction subject to FATF countermeasures, and EU autonomous measures cover IRGC-linked entities, UAV components and dual-use procurement supporting Russia.
Procurement is run through third-country intermediaries, opaque trading houses, informal value-transfer systems, misdescribed goods, and links to UAV or missile-related supply chains.
Operational red flags
- Buyer in CIS / TR / UAE for engine-class components
- Goods description "industrial equipment" — no spec
- Payment from a money / value transfer service
- Hawala-like cash settlement requested
- Address overlap with prior IRGC-linked entities
Russia & Belarus
Russia and Belarus are not subject to UN sanctions comparable to DPRK because of the Security Council veto, but they are central to a German or Baltic operator: EU sanctions against them are extensive and directly applicable, and circumvention pressure is structural.
Common patterns: third-country diversion through CIS / TR / UAE; newly formed trading companies; ownership transfers immediately before or after a listing; formal stake reduced below 50% while control is retained; vague end-use; rerouting after shipment.
Operational red flags
- Unjustified intermediary in adjacent jurisdiction
- Newly-incorporated trading company, no track record
- Ownership transfer reducing stake just below 50%
- Refusal to accept "no re-export to RU/BY" clause
- Goods inconsistent with buyer's stated business
- Last-minute change of destination after shipment
Maritime shadow fleet
FATF identifies the maritime sector as a primary target for illicit actors due to complexity, international reach, anonymity, and weak AML/CFT/CPF controls. Shadow-fleet activity, deceptive shipping tactics, opaque insurance, and open-registry flagging conceal vessel origin, ownership and cargo.
The Baltic States carry structural exposure — proximity to Russia, Belarus and Kaliningrad-related routing. The 2024 customs cooperation agreement among EE/LV/LT/FI/PL exists for a reason.
Operational red flags
- AIS gaps · ship-to-ship transfers · frequent flag swaps
- Old vessel, opaque ownership, atypical insurer
- Bills of lading inconsistent with port calls
- Suspicious certificates of origin
- Routing via ports with no commercial logic
Four flags, one perimeter to defend.
Click any country to focus its national authority map. UN measures are felt through the EU regulation, but the licensing, reporting and penalty rails are national.
Germany
- BAFAGoods · Tech · Resources
- BundesbankFunds · Financial assist.
- ZollCustoms · Trade
- AWG / AWVStatutory frame
- UN screeningEU CFSL · DE list tool
Estonia
- FIUFinancial · Procurement
- MTAImport / Export bans
- MFACoordination
- Transp. Admin.Vessels · Aircraft
- Int'l Sanctions ActStatutory frame
Latvia
- FIU LatviaNational & int'l sanctions
- MFACoordination
- State Revenue Svc.Customs · Trade
- Sanctions Law 2016Statutory frame
- UN screeningEU CFSL · UN consolidated
Lithuania
- FCISFinancial sanctions
- MFACoordination
- Customs Dept.Import / Export
- Gov. ResolutionsImplementation
- UN screeningEU CFSL · UN consolidated
A clean customer is not a clean transaction.
Click any node to walk the typical evasion chain. Most UN-relevant breaches start with a credible-looking buyer in a third country.
How a UN-listed end-user gets value from a Hamburg invoice
UNSCR 2664 is not a general business exemption.
A specific, narrow carve-out for humanitarian assistance. Treat anything you route through it as licence-sensitive — and document the legal basis from day one.
Cross-cutting humanitarian exemption to asset-freeze measures.
Funds, economic resources, goods and services necessary for the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance, or to support basic human needs — subject to the providers and conditions specified in the resolution.
Document before you ship · 5 things
Ten controls, one ring.
A robust UN-grade compliance programme is not a list of policies — it is a closed loop. Click any control to mark it implemented; the arc closes as your programme matures.
- Define the perimeter. Jurisdictions, entities, currencies, goods, services, software.
- Run a risk assessment. Country, customer, product, end-use, payment, logistics.
- Screen & rescreen. Onboarding, order, shipment, payment, list updates.
- Classify products & tech. HS · CN · dual-use · military list · controls.
- End-use due diligence. Plausibility test on quantity, spec, business model.
- Control third parties. Sanctions warranties, no-re-export, audit rights.
- Monitor logistics. Vessel, IMO, manager, flag, AIS, port calls, insurance.
- Monitor payments. No third-party flows without rationale; crypto under review.
- Freeze & report. Stop · freeze · notify (BAFA/Bundesbank · FIU · MTA · FCIS).
- Document & test. Records, audits, training, scenario tests, retention.
Twelve questions for the next board pack.
Tick what you can defend with evidence. Anything left unticked is a candidate item for the next 90-day plan.
- We maintain a sanctions register covering UN, EU, DE/EE/LV/LT — and US/UK where relevant.
- One named sanctions officer and one deputy own the programme end-to-end.
- We screen against the UN Consolidated, EU CFSL and EU Sanctions Map — not only one source.
- Hits are resolved on multi-attribute identity, not just name similarity.
- We screen counterparties, UBOs, directors, vessels, banks, forwarders and end-users.
- All products, software, technology and services are classified with documented evidence.
- Shipments cannot release until screening, classification and end-use review are complete.
- Customer, supplier, distributor, logistics and agency contracts carry sanctions clauses.
- A written escalation path exists for possible hits and circumvention red flags.
- Country-risk rules are codified for RU, BY, KP, IR, SY and high-risk diversion routes.
- Sales, procurement, finance, logistics, customs, legal and management train annually.
- Records reconstruct who approved what, on which information, and when.
The argument, compressed.
Eighteen minutes of reading collapse to a single test you can hold in your head before you sign anything.
"Does this transaction directly or indirectly deliver funds, goods, services, technology or economic resources to a UN-listed person, a controlled entity, a prohibited end-use, or a circumvention scheme — and can I prove the answer is no?"
Date basis: 9 May 2026. Compliance-oriented overview, not legal advice. For binding decisions, consult the applicable EU regulation, national law and the relevant national competent authority (BAFA · Deutsche Bundesbank · MFA EE · MTA · FIU EE · FIU LV · MFA LT · FCIS LT).