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Cuba General License 1

OFAC savings-clause licence issued 7 May 2026 aligning Executive Order 14404 with existing Cuban Assets Control Regulations.

Last refreshed: 18 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic

Key Question

Does Cuba GL 1 authorise any Russian tanker delivery, or only protect existing CACR carve-outs?

Timeline for Cuba General License 1

#416 May

Aligned EO 14404 with existing CACR but granted no fuel-delivery authority

Cuba Dispatch: GL 134B expires; Universal stuck offshore
#47 May

Aligned EO 14404 with the existing Cuban Assets Control Regulations

Cuba Dispatch: EO 14404 numbered; Cuba GL 1 issued 7 May
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Common Questions
What is Cuba General License 1?
Cuba GL 1 is a savings-clause licence issued by OFAC on 7 May 2026 under Executive Order 14404. It preserves existing authorisations under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations and grants no new fuel-delivery authority.Source: OFAC Recent Actions
Does Cuba GL 1 allow Russian oil tankers to unload in Cuba?
No. The licence text grants no fuel-delivery authority. The Sovcomflot Universal's 270,000 barrels of diesel remain outside any current OFAC authorisation envelope.Source: Baker McKenzie sanctions analysis
What does a savings clause mean in US sanctions?
A savings clause is a provision that preserves pre-existing authorisations so a new order does not inadvertently revoke them. Cuba GL 1 protects CACR humanitarian, remittance and telecom carve-outs.Source: OFAC

Background

Cuba General License 1 was published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control on 7 May 2026, six days after President Trump signed Executive Order 14404. The licence functions as a savings clause: it preserves existing authorisations under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR, the long-standing US sanctions ruleset on Cuba) so that humanitarian, journalistic, telecommunications and remittance activity already permitted under CACR is not inadvertently swept into the new order.

The licence text grants no new fuel-delivery authority. This matters because the Sovcomflot tanker Universal, carrying 270,000 barrels of Russian-origin diesel, has been drifting since late April with no lawful Cuba discharge window. GL 134B, the Russia-programme wind-down licence that some prior reporting wrongly treated as covering the Universal, expired on 16 May 2026 without a Cuba-specific successor under EO 14404.

OFAC simultaneously published six new Cuba FAQs (1251 through 1256) and updated SDN entries for GAESA and Moa Nickel SA to extend the [Cuba-EO] tag onto their pre-existing [Cuba] designations. The pattern is layered overlay rather than wholesale replacement of the existing CACR regime, preserving Treasury's deniability while imposing carrying costs on Russian shippers and Cuban state entities.