Restricted Parties and Visual Compliance
Administered by both the U.S. Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), “restricted parties” lists consist of people, companies, institutions or foreign agencies the U.S. Government has identified as being of concern for the purposes of U.S. national security. All University-related activities involving restricted parties will require prior approval from the Export Compliance office.
Due to restricted parties being untethered to any location around the world, all international activities by University faculty, staff and students should undergo what is known as a “restricted party screening (RPS)”. The primary method of conducting an RPS at UNC-Chapel Hill is through the use of University-licensed software known as Visual Compliance.
Visual Compliance is the primary tool used by the Export Compliance office when conducting an RPS for University-related international activities. Visual Compliance can be used by any administrative unit on campus that conducts international activities or hosts international scholars, students or employees.