The Denied Persons List: what it is and how to screen against it
The Denied Persons List (DPL) is the Commerce Department's list of individuals and entities that have been denied export privileges. Any dealing with a listed party that would violate the terms of its denial order is prohibited (Trade.gov CSL). It is kept by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and is included in Trade.gov's Consolidated Screening List, so screening the CSL covers it. It is separate from OFAC's SDN list, and Treasury's Sanctions List Search does not search it.
Who maintains it
BIS publishes the list on its Denied Persons List page. Every denial order is published in the Federal Register, and failing to comply with a denial order is a violation of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) (15 CFR part 764, Supplement No. 1).
An order denying export privileges can be imposed as a sanction for violating the export control laws or the EAR (15 CFR 764.3).
What a denial order prohibits
The standard terms work in two directions (Supplement No. 1 to part 764):
- The denied person may not participate in any way in a transaction involving items subject to the EAR that are exported or to be exported from the United States. That includes applying for or using licenses, negotiating, buying, selling, financing, forwarding or otherwise servicing such a transaction, or benefiting from it.
- Everyone else may not, directly or indirectly, export, reexport or transfer an item subject to the EAR to or on behalf of the denied person, or help a denied person acquire such an item, among other restrictions.
The second point is why the list matters to you. The EAR's general prohibitions include not engaging in actions prohibited by a denial order (15 CFR 736.2).
Each order also states its own terms: the denied and related persons, the basis, the period of denial, the effective date and whether licenses are suspended or revoked (Supplement No. 1 to part 764). Read the order for any party you match.
How it differs from the SDN list
| Denied Persons List | OFAC SDN list | |
|---|---|---|
| Agency | Commerce, BIS | Treasury, OFAC |
| Rules | Export Administration Regulations | OFAC sanctions regulations |
| Restricts | Transactions involving items subject to the EAR, per the denial order | Generally all dealings in the blocked person's property and interests (OFAC FAQ 91) |
| Searched by OFAC's Sanctions List Search | No | Yes |
| Included in Trade.gov's CSL | Yes | Yes |
Many businesses that only sell domestically never touch the DPL. Exporters, freight forwarders and anyone shipping, financing or servicing U.S.-origin items abroad should screen it.
How to screen against it
The simplest route is Trade.gov's Consolidated Screening List, which combines the DPL with the Entity List, Unverified List, Military End User List, State Department lists and OFAC's lists. It is available as CSV, TSV and JSON downloads and through an API with fuzzy name search (Trade.gov CSL).
A match on the CSL tells you which source list it came from. For a DPL match, read the denial order before going further. See SDN, Consolidated and the CSL for how the lists fit together, and denied party screening for small exporters for a working routine.
Related lists
The Entity List is a different Commerce list: it triggers license requirements rather than a blanket denial. See the BIS Entity List explained.
This is screening data, not legal advice.
Run a free OFAC check on a party's name, and screen the Consolidated Screening List as well if you export.