Embargo

The word covers a family of bans. A trade embargo stops most or all commerce with a country. An arms embargo is narrower and bars the sale or supply of weapons and related equipment, often with training and spare parts. Embargoes may be set by a single state, by a group such as the EU, or by the UN Security Council, which makes them binding on its members. They rest on laws that apply to exporters, shippers, insurers and banks, and breaking them is usually a criminal offence. They differ from targeted measures, which name individuals or firms. Enforcement relies on export controls, customs checks and screening of end users. Firms meet embargoes in contract clauses, shipping documents and trade finance reviews. Exporters meet it as a refusal at order stage: an end user or route that touches an embargoed state ends the sale.

A manufacturer receives an order for industrial vehicles from a distributor in a neighbouring country. During review, the exporter finds that the vehicles are intended for military use in a state under a UN arms embargo. The export compliance team refuses the order, files a record of the decision, and reports the approach to the national export authority.