Access USA Shipping, LLC, of Sarasota, Florida, recently entered into a $27 million agreement with BIS to settle allegations that it violated the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The company, which does business under the name MyUS, provides package forwarding and consolidation services for foreign buyers. Regular readers of this blog will know this is not…
During the dark days of winter (January to be exact), the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), published a new regulatory requirement dealing with items controlled under multilateral regimes. This new rule, effective in April, requires exporters and reexporters to obtain a Hong Kong import license or written statement from the…
On 20 December 2016, in the Federal District of Connecticut, JIANG YAN, 34, of Shenzhen China was sentenced to time served (12 months imprisonment) for attempting to purchase and export to China without a required export authorization for certain sophisticated integrated circuits used in military satellites and missiles. Additionally, for conspiring to sell counterfeits of…
Yu Long, a Chinese citizen and former employee of the United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) pleaded guilty to the export and the attempted export of defense articles from the U.S. in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. The maximum possible sentence Long can serve is 20 years. Long, who was a legal resident in…
In July 2016, the U.S. Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) announced that it had re-initiated its Company Visit Program for companies engaged in ITAR-controlled work. The stated objectives of this program are: Advance DDTC’s understanding of how different companies establish and maintain an overall defense trade control program to fit the…
Moving one step closer to the Single IT system goal of Export Control Reform, DDTC has acquired a new case management IT system to modernize its business processes. Additionally, DDTC has begun accepting comments related to the new DS-7788 (Application for Permanent Export, Temporary Export or Temporary Import of Defense Munitions, Defense Services and Related…
The clock is ticking! Exporters have just one month (until November 15, 2016) to change the language and use of their Destination Control Statements (DCS). As the U.S. Government moves forward with the harmonization of export regulations under Export Control Reform, the ITAR and the EAR will soon be aligned with respect to the content…
The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) recently issued administrative settlement documents against a company called Fulfill Your Packages (“FYP”). Under the settlement agreement, FYP agreed to pay a $250,000 fine, of which $190,000 was suspended on the condition that the company has no export violations over the next two years. According to the…
For those of you in the crude oil exporting business, life has just gotten a little bit easier. The CCL entry (ECCN 1C981) requiring a BIS license to export crude oil out of the United States has now been removed and the new classification will be EAR99. Last month, a rule was issued by BIS…
Here’s one for all the Human Resources professionals out there. The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (the “OSC”) has issued a response to a request for guidance regarding complying with antidiscrimination laws (specifically under the Immigration and Nationality Act, or “INA”) when verifying employees’ citizenship status under…