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Recent OFAC Actions 12/6/2004

OFAC has released new versions of its SDN data formats in accordance with the formal notice released on 11/22/2004.

In order to minimize the impact of the changes on the public, OFAC will temporarily release its old data formats in parallel with the new formats.

In response to feedback from the public, the legacy formats will now be available for a period of 6 designations instead of 4 designations. In the event that OFAC releases all 6 designations in a short period of time, the parallel schedule will not end before January 15, 2005.

The legacy files will be available on OFAC's website and FTP servers. During this period of parallel running, the new and old SDN data will be stored in separate directories on the OFAC website and FTP servers. The legacy data will be stored in the same location as in the past until these formats are retired. This is being done to allow users with automated "pull" processes to continue to download and import legacy data without forcing them to immediately modify their processes.

The following legacy files will be replaced on OFAC servers after January 15, 2005.

On the OFAC website:

Path - //www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/sdn

t11sdall.exe
t11sdall.zip
sdallw32.exe

On the OFAC FTP site and GPO FTP site:

Path - /fac_sdn

sdall.zip
sdall.exe
sdallw32.exe

Path - /fac_delim (OFAC FTP) /fac_dlim (GPO FTP)

sdn.del
sdn.ff
add.del
add.ff
alt.del
alt.ff

OFAC has placed the new data formats in the following locations on its FTP servers:

OFAC FTP - all new files are temporarily stored in fac_new

GPO FTP - due to the fact that OFAC does not administer this server, new folders could not be created in this environment. As a result, the new data was posted to the fac_sdn folder using the following naming convention:

new_sdall.exe
new_sdall.zip
sdn_sdallw32.exe

Where possible OFAC has attempted to replicate the old data formats. However, OFAC had to expand the following fields in the newly produced formats to accommodate the larger field-widths in its new database. These changes were made to prevent the truncation of longer records. The following fields have been expanded:

SDN file    
Field Old Length New Length
Name  200 350
Title 180 200
Program 20 50

 

ADD file    
Field  Old Length New Length
Address 125 750
City  30 50
Country 40 250

 

ALT file    
Field Old Length New Length
Name 200 350

 

Users experiencing difficulty with these new formats should e-mail OFAC at O_F_A_C@treasury.gov. Please provide a detailed description of the problem you are encountering as well as the platform and operating system you are using.