Bans and restrictions can grow into serious trade barriers unless businesses keep track of them and efficiently integrate them into their business processes. This is especially true in global trade, where compliance with complex national and international rules and regulations is a basic prerequisite for long-term success. But the effort required to run checks and obtain the necessary permits must remain manageable, otherwise businesses face an uphill struggle trying to match the lead times and costs needed to thrive in today’s highly competitive global marketplace.

But the broader the product portfolio and the more international the sales markets, the more complex the task of screening business transactions becomes. Many exporters deploy export control solutions that screen all ongoing business transactions against restricted party lists, national embargoes, restricted product lists, and designated use definitions.

Unfortunately, the full functionality of such software often goes underutilized. The same software can be used to reliably screen against bans and restrictions from other jurisdictions and countries and even define in-house restrictions, for example. Such functions can be programmed to run as manual restrictions alongside the software’s standard screening processes. Using IT to support the monitoring of these manual restrictions offers much lower processing times, lower personnel costs, streamlined processes, and greater transparency and legal protections in the screening process.

To provide companies with a practical overview of the most common bans and restrictions, AEB has developed a new white paper. Titled “Bans and restrictions”, it offers tips and practical examples for automating and simplifying screening processes through manual restrictions. It can be downloaded free of charge here.