On March 5, 2015, the Federal Register published Presidential Notice of March 3, 2015  – Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Zimbabwe which extends for an additional year the national emergency first declared on March 6, 2003, by Executive Order (EO) 13288. EO 13288 blocked the property of certain persons, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701–1706), to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States constituted by the actions and policies of certain members of the Government of Zimbabwe and other persons to undermine Zimbabwe’s democratic processes or institutions. These actions and policies had contributed to the deliberate breakdown in the rule of law in Zimbabwe, to politically motivated violence and intimidation in that country, and to political and economic instability in the southern African region.

Additional steps were taken on November 22, 2005, in EO 13391.  The scope of the national emergency was further expanded by EO 13469 on July 25, 2008.

The national emergency is being continued because the actions and policies of these persons continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States