Abstract: This briefing report summarizes the legal status, content, and nature of relevant U.N. sanctions regimes; defines and analyzes the two general categories of “humanitarian exemptions” (those for designated individuals and for the humanitarian sector); highlights the stakes and interests in the debate on whether such exemptions may be desirable and feasible or may be inadvisable and impracticable; explains some of the few existing and limited exemptions at the international and domestic levels; and discusses the perceived benefits and costs of suggested “humanitarian exemptions.”