Excluded Activities

The following list sets out types of transactions that cannot be financed under the B5 Fund.

  1. Production or trade in any product or activity deemed illegal under Lebanese laws or regulations or international conventions and agreements
  2. Production or trade in pharmaceuticals, pesticides/herbicides, ozone depleting substances, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) subject to international phase outs or bans
  3. Trade in wildlife or wildlife products regulated under Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
  4. Production or trade in weapons and ammunitions1
  5. Production or trade in alcoholic beverages1
  6. Production or trade in tobacco1
  7. Gambling, casinos, and equivalent enterprises1
  8. Production or trade in radioactive materials (this does not apply to the purchase of medical equipment, quality control measurement equipment, and any equipment where the radioactive source is considered to be trivial and/or adequately shielded.)
  9. Cross-border trade in waste and waste products, unless compliant with the Basel Convention and the underlying regulations
  10. Production or trade in or use of unbounded asbestos fibers
  11. Unsustainable fishing practices, such as drift net fishing in the marine environment using nets in excess of 2.5 km length, electric shocks, or explosive materials
  12. Production or trade in wood or other forestry products other than from sustainably managed forests2
  13. Production or activities involving harmful or exploitative forms of forced labor3 or harmful child labor4
  14. Activities involving land acquisition and/or restrictions on land use resulting in involuntary resettlement or economic displacement5
  15. Any activities involving significant degradation or conversion of natural6 and/or critical habitats7 and/or any activities in legally protected areas
  16. Production, trade, storage, or transport of significant volumes of hazardous chemicals, or commercial scale usage of hazardous chemicals (gasoline, kerosene, other petroleum products, textile dyes, and so on)
  17. Activities involving significant adverse impacts on critical cultural heritage8
  18. Production or trade in- or use of- non‐biodegradable packaging material such as polythene bags and styrofoam.

Footnotes (must accompany the Exclusion List in all circumstances):

1. This does not apply to enterprises that are not substantially involved in these activities. ‘Not substantially involved’ means that the activity concerned is ancillary to an enterprise’s primary operations.
2. Sustainable forest management may be demonstrated by the application of industry-specific good practices and available technologies. In some cases, it may be demonstrated by certification/ verification or progress towards certification /verification under a credible standards system.
3. Forced labor means all work or service, not voluntarily performed that is extracted from an individual under threat of force or penalty.
4. Harmful child labor means the employment of children that is economically exploitive, or is likely to be hazardous to, or to interfere with, the child's education or to be harmful to the child's health, or physical, mental, spiritual, moral, or social development.
5. Land acquisition and/or restrictions on land use may result in the physical displacement of people (involuntary resettlement), as well as their economic displacement (as loss of assets and/or means of livelihood, regardless of whether or not the affected people are physically displaced). Land must be bought on willing-buyer, willing-seller basis.
6. Natural habitats are areas composed of viable assemblages of plant and/or animal species of largely native origin, and/or where human activity has not essentially modified an area’s primary ecological functions and species composition. This includes HCV forests. HCV areas do not directly correspond with definitions for modified, natural, and critical habitat. The HCV Resource Network, an internationally recognized group, provides information and support on the evolving usage of HCV to ensure a consistent approach. https://www.hcvnetwork.org/.
7. Critical habitat is a subset of both natural and modified habitats that deserves particular attention. Critical habitat includes areas with high biodiversity value that meet the criteria of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) classification, including habitats of significant importance for required for critically endangered or endangered species as defined by the IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species; habitats of significant importance for endemic or restricted-range species; habitats supporting globally significant concentrations of migratory species and/or congregatory species; and areas with unique assemblages of species or which are associated with key evolutionary processes. Primary forests or forests of High Conservation Value (HCV) shall be considered Critical Habitats.
8. Critical cultural heritage consists of (a) the internationally recognized heritage of communities who use, or have used, within living memory the cultural heritage for long-standing cultural purposes and (b) legally protected cultural heritage areas, including those proposed by host governments for such designation.
Additionally, borrowers will not engage in cultivation, processing, and sale of poppy and/ or other illegal addictive substances (for example, heroin, hashish, opium, bhang, alcohol). Sale of addictive substances such as tobacco, gutka, niswar, cigarettes, beeri, hukka, paan parag, sheesha and any other products containing such substances to persons under the age of 18; Illegal wood extraction; hunting, poaching and fishing in protected areas; informal cross‐border trade; smuggling or sale and handling of smuggled goods.