Which three categories of goods and services does Brühl distinguish in a targeted sanctions regime, and what is a company's responsibility for each?

Question

Accepted Answer

(a) Prohibited, sanctioned goods: companies must comply, since evading sanctions is illegal and morally wrong. (b) Explicitly permitted essential goods: supplying them is legitimate and can even be a moral duty. (c) Implicitly permitted non-essential goods: allowed, but in tension with the moral pressure to leave.
Companies bear the main burden of implementing sanctions, so their responsibility depends on the category:

Category
Examples
Company responsibility

(a) Prohibited (sanctioned)
Arms trade, dual-use goods, high technology for the arms industry
Comply. Complying with sanctions is part of obeying the law, a legal and moral duty; sanction evasion is illegal and morally wrong

(b) Explicitly permitted, essential
Food, medical goods; humanitarian exceptions (e.g. an NGO may use a sanctioned logistics service if there is no alternative)
Supplying them is legitimate, and there can be strong moral reasons to stay. Fresenius kept running its 100 dialysis centres in Russia because closing them would let people die of kidney failure

(c) Implicitly permitted, non-essential
Cosmetics, home furnishings
Allowed, but it conflicts with the moral pressure to stop and leave. Exception: the EU does sanction luxury goods over €300 (watches, jewellery, textiles)

Category	Examples	Company responsibility
(a) Prohibited (sanctioned)	Arms trade, dual-use goods, high technology for the arms industry	Comply. Complying with sanctions is part of obeying the law, a legal and moral duty; sanction evasion is illegal and morally wrong
(b) Explicitly permitted, essential	Food, medical goods; humanitarian exceptions (e.g. an NGO may use a sanctioned logistics service if there is no alternative)	Supplying them is legitimate, and there can be strong moral reasons to stay. Fresenius kept running its 100 dialysis centres in Russia because closing them would let people die of kidney failure
(c) Implicitly permitted, non-essential	Cosmetics, home furnishings	Allowed, but it conflicts with the moral pressure to stop and leave. Exception: the EU does sanction luxury goods over €300 (watches, jewellery, textiles)