Sudanese state airlines lose US landing rights under chemical weapons sanctions

Foreign air carriers owned or controlled by the government of Sudan are to lose their authority to fly to and from the United States. The Department of State set out that measure and two others in a notice effective July 20, imposed under section 307(b) of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991. The Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security decided to impose them on June 23. They follow a determination of April 24, 2025, published that June under Public Notice 12749, that the government of Sudan had used chemical weapons in violation of international law. The Act then gave three months for a certification to Congress that Sudan had met the conditions it sets out. None was made.

The first of the three directs the United States to oppose any loan or financial or technical assistance to Sudan at the multilateral development banks, under section 701 of the International Financial Institutions Act. That sanction is waived where the assistance serves the basic human needs of Sudanese citizens. The second prohibits exports to Sudan of all other goods and technology, excluding food and other agricultural commodities and products, and is then waived in large part, so that items off the Commerce Control List are exempt and eight License Exceptions remain open, with everything else on the list reviewed under a presumption of denial. National security sensitive goods stay under the separate restrictions imposed in June 2025. The measures run at least a year.