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OfacScanner

Trade and export

Export Sanctions Screening for Consignees and End Users

Export sanctions screening checks every party in a sale abroad, from the buyer to the consignee, end user and intermediaries, against sanctions lists before goods ship. OfacScanner screens each party against OFAC and other national lists, one name or a whole CSV file at a time, and saves proof.

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At a glance

Who to screen
Buyers, consignees, end users, agents, banks
How
One name or a CSV file per shipment
File size
Up to 100,000 rows on Growth
Lists
OFAC on every plan, plus UN, EU, UK, Canada, Australia on Growth
Not covered
Commerce Department export control lists
Evidence
Record and PDF for every party
Export manager checking shipping documents next to packed pallets

What is export sanctions screening

When you sell goods abroad, the buyer on the purchase order is often not the only party involved. A freight agent receives the goods, a consignee signs for them, a bank handles payment and an end user finally puts them to use. Export sanctions screening means checking each of these parties against sanctions lists before you ship, so goods and money do not reach a blocked person.

For U.S. exporters the core lists are published by OFAC, mainly the SDN list and the consolidated non-SDN lists. Exporters who also sell from or into Europe, the UK, Canada or Australia usually need those national lists too, since each authority enforces its own measures.

Sanctions are one part of trade compliance. Export controls are another. The Commerce Department, through the Bureau of Industry and Security, keeps its own lists such as the Entity List, which restrict exports of certain items to named parties. Those are separate lists with separate rules.

Which lists OfacScanner covers for exporters

We want you to know exactly what is in scope, so nothing in your program is left to an assumption.

List Published by Screened by OfacScanner
SDN list OFAC, U.S. Treasury Yes, every plan
Consolidated non-SDN lists OFAC, U.S. Treasury Yes, every plan
UN Security Council consolidated list United Nations Yes, Growth and higher
EU consolidated financial sanctions list European Commission Yes, Growth and higher
UK sanctions list UK government Yes, Growth and higher
Canada and Australia sanctions lists Global Affairs Canada, DFAT Yes, Growth and higher
Entity List and other export control lists Commerce Department, BIS No, use a separate check

If your products need an export license review, keep your export control screening in place. OfacScanner covers the sanctions side.

Parties to screen on every shipment

  • Buyer

    The company on the purchase order and its country.

  • Consignee

    Whoever receives the goods at destination, if different from the buyer.

  • End user

    The party that will use the goods, as stated by the buyer.

  • Intermediaries

    Agents, distributors and forwarders named on the documents.

  • Banks

    The bank paying you or issuing a letter of credit.

  • Vessel

    The carrying vessel by name, when you know it.

How to screen a shipment with a CSV file

Most export teams screen per shipment or per day. Both work the same way.

  1. 01

    Export the parties

    Pull the parties for upcoming shipments from your order or shipping system into a CSV file with name, type and country.

  2. 02

    Upload the file

    Use batch sanctions screening to upload files of up to 100,000 rows. Match the columns to name, type and country.

  3. 03

    Review the flagged rows

    Clear rows need no action. Rows rated Review or Likely match become cases with the candidate entry and score breakdown.

  4. 04

    Release or hold

    Release the shipment once every party is cleared. Hold it and escalate if a match is confirmed.

  5. 05

    Keep the file of results

    Download the results and evidence PDFs and store them with the shipment records.

Logistics manager with a tablet at a container port before a shipment

Repeat buyers stay checked between orders

Many exporters sell to the same distributors for years. Instead of screening them again with every order, add them to ongoing sanctions monitoring. OfacScanner re-screens them after every list update and alerts you only when something new matches.

For a one off order or a new buyer, a single OFAC check from the dashboard takes seconds and stores the same evidence as a batch row.

  • Official list files checked every 30 minutes
  • Alerts only for new or changed hits
  • Transliteration of Cyrillic, Arabic, Persian and Chinese names

The right plan for an export team

A small exporter with a few orders a week can start on Starter at $49 a month, or $24 a month billed yearly, with 1,000 checks a month on the OFAC lists and a PDF for each check. Teams that ship often, sell worldwide or want CSV files move to Growth at $499 a month, or $249 a month billed yearly, which adds batch files, monitoring, global lists, cases and 5 users. Results support your decisions. The decision to ship stays with your team.

Export sanctions screening questions

Another question? Write to [email protected].

Does OfacScanner screen the Entity List?
No. The Entity List and other export control lists are published by the Commerce Department and are not part of OfacScanner. Keep a separate export control check for those.

Who should be screened on an export order?
The buyer, consignee, end user, any agents or forwarders, the paying bank and, where known, the vessel.

Can I screen all parties for the week in one file?
Yes. On Growth and higher you can upload a CSV file with up to 100,000 rows and review only the flagged rows.

We are not a U.S. company. Do OFAC lists matter?
They often do if you are paid in U.S. dollars, use U.S. banks or sell to U.S. companies. Growth also covers the UN, EU, UK, Canadian and Australian lists.

Keep exploring

Batch screening Upload a CSV and screen up to 100,000 rows in one run. Read more Logistics Screen shippers, consignees, notify parties and vessels before cargo moves. Read more OFAC business search Check a company, its trading names and its vessels against OFAC. Read more Pricing Four plans with public prices, yearly billing saves 50 percent. Read more

Screen your first name in seconds

Type a person or company name, see the risk rating and top candidates from the current OFAC list, and keep the evidence when you sign up.

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Results support your compliance decisions, and the final decision stays with your team. OfacScanner is not affiliated with OFAC or the U.S. Department of the Treasury.