August 2010 Volume 24, Number 8
Features
Certificate vs. Certification: Buyer Beware!
Exporters need to understand the difference between a certificate program and a certification program when paying for training and testing on export compliance competence, according to John Priecko and Betty Fishman.
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Focus on Enforcement
Service Steel Aerospace Settles BIS Charges for Exporting Titanium Rods
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) imposed only a $12,000 civil fine on Service Steel Aerospace Corp. of Tacoma, Wash., July 28, 2010, for...
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Security Pro USA Settles Charge of Exporting Explosive Detection Device to India
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) officials have said they will often mitigate the fines of firms that they believe cannot afford to pay the...
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Agar Paying $2 Million in Penalties after Pleading Guilty to Exporting to Sudan
Agar Corporation Inc., (ACI), a Houston-based manufacturer of equipment used in the petrochemical production industry, agreed to pay $2 million in...
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Pulsafeeder Settles Charges of Exporting Pumps to China, Brazil, Russia
After making a voluntary self-disclosure to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Pulsafeeder, Inc., of Rochester, N.Y., agreed to pay a...
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Snamprogetti Agrees to Pay $365 Million in Penalties for Bribery of Nigerian Officials
A Dutch firm reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department July 7, 2010, to settle criminal charges that it violated the...
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UN Credit Union Pays $500,000 Fine for Handling Accounts of Blocked Cubans
The United Nations Federal Credit Union (UNFCU) has paid a civil fine of $500,000 in an agreement with Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control...
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GE Pays $23.5 Penalty for Alleged Kickbacks in Iraqi Oil-for-Food Program
General Electric (GE) has agreed to pay a $23.5 million penalty to settle Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges that it and four foreign...
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Reliance Steel Reaches Second Settlement with BIS for Unlicensed Exports
Nearly seven years after reaching one settlement agreement with the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to resolve charges of exporting...
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DDTC Settlement with AAR International Covers Ex-Blackwater Operations
State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) agreed July 15, 2010, to allow AAR International, Inc., of Wood Dale, Ill., to implement...
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Ex-Pride Executive Near Deal with SEC to Settle FCPA Violation Charges
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Bobby Benton, a Texas businessman, have told a federal court that they have reached a settlement...
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MTI Corp. Fined for Attempted Export to Indian Lab on Entity List
MTI Corporation of Richmond, Calif., will pay a $20,000 civil fine in an agreement with the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to settle a...
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Superseding Indictment Adds Two More Charges against Mac Aviation
A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., handed up a superseding indictment July 7, 2010, of Ireland's Mac Aviation Group (MAC) and two of its...
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Tyco Units Pays $218,000 Fine for Unlicensed Exports of Valves to 10 Countries
Tyco Valves & Controls, LP, of Houston, Texas, has agreed to pay a $218,000 civil fine to settle Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) charges...
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3M's Global Settlement with BIS, OFAC Resolves Charges on Dental Implant Exports to Iran
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) joined together July 22, 2010, to reach a global...
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Yarde Metals Settles Charges of Exporting Aluminum Rods without Licenses
Yarde Metals, Inc., of Southington, Conn., agreed to pay a $12,000 civil fine in a settlement agreement with the Bureau of Industry and Security...
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Stiff Sentences Handed Down for Executives Who Violated FCPA in Haiti Teleco Scheme
Multi-year jail sentences have been imposed on two of the men who were involved in a scheme to bribe officials of Telecommunications D'Haiti in...
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Enforcement Insights by Mark Menefee
Sorting Devils and Angels
By Mark D. Menefee*
"You look just like an angel, you sound so bright and true.
You seem so sweet coming down my street, but the devil is an...
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Inside BIS
Export Control Reforms Could Mean New Reexport Restrictions for Some Items
Any decontrol or liberalization of export licensing requirements due to the review of export controls lists as part of the administration's export...
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It May Take Two Years To Adopt Single Electronic Licensing System, BISer Says
It may be two years before exporters will be able to use a single, electronic information technology (IT) system to submit export license...
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Policy Briefs
Justice Gives FCPA Opinion to Microfinance Institution on Making Grant to Foreign Bank
The Justice Department, in one of its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Advisory Opinions, informed a U.S.-based microfinance institution (MFI)...
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BAE Systems Didn't Seek Global Settlement with DDTC in Plea Talks
As the United Kingdom's BAE Systems (BAES) awaits a decision from State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) on its fate and an...
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Export Control Reforms Moving Slower than Obama Officials Had Hoped
The Obama administration officials are beginning to admit that they won't meet the goal of completing many parts of Phases I and II of their export...
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Lugar Bill May Set Stage for Senate Action on UK, Australia Defense Treaties
The long-stalled U.S. defense treaties with the United Kingdom and Australia could finally see Senate action in the fall following the introduction...
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Disclosures to Other Agencies Will Get Mitigation Credit, Says DDTC's Studtmann
State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) will give mitigation credit to defense exporters for making a voluntary disclosure even if...
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Administration Officials Defend Improvements UAE Has Made in Export Controls
A State Department official claimed July 22, 2010, that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is making progress toward improved enforcement of export...
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Treasury Expands Sanctions on Iranian Individuals, Entities and Foreign Affiliates
The Treasury Department greatly expanded the list of Iranian persons and entities subject to U.S. sanctions Aug. 3, 2010, including foreign...
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Exporting from Europe
Why Helping Subcontractors Is Good for Export Compliance
By David Hayes*
In my previous article, "Cleaning the River," I referred to the need for prime contractors to offer greater support to their...
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Regulatory Briefs
BIS Amends EAR to Expand Direct Product Rule to Include Country Group E:1
In the continuing effort to harmonize U.S. export regulations, the "direct product rule" of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) now applies...
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Federal Register Notice Clarifies Grace Period for Encryption Exports
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended its new encryption regulations in the July 27, 2010, Federal Register to clarify a...
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Amendment of EAR Crime Control Rules Is First in Series of Planned Changes
In the ongoing debate between what is torture and what is law enforcement, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) picked some low-hanging fruit...
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Industry Advisors Back DDTC Plans for Changing "See-Through" Policy
With some slight suggestions for changes, State's Defense Trade Advisory Group (DTAG) gave its endorsement July 7, 2010, to Directorate of Defense...
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OFAC Issues Lebanon Sanctions Regulations to Implement Executive Order
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) finally got around to publishing Lebanon Sanctions Regulations (LSR) in the July 30, 2010,...
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