Here’s a quick test. Select a random employee and ask him or her: “What does ITAR stand for?” Do they remember? Do they stutter while answering? Or do they just give you a funny look and walk away? Of course, your employees need to know much more than this simple question. (But hey, I told…
When it comes to EAR compliance, a common mistake is to find the Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) for your product and then make all your licensing determinations based on that alone. However, it’s important to remember there are actually two ECCNs for every item – one that controls the product, and a second that…
Ever heard of the BIS Entity List? More importantly, are you screening your transactions against this and other U.S. government watch lists? If you’re like most companies that we talk to, the answer to both of these questions is: “No.” In fact, it’s safe to say that many – and perhaps even most – companies…
The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) recently settled with Mattson Technology of Fremont, CA, in a case which alleges 47 EAR violations from 2006 to 2008. According to the order from BIS, Mattson “sold, transferred or otherwise serviced” pressure transducers “with knowledge that violations of the Regulations were about to occur or were…
An Australian man and his company have been charged with several counts of violating the EAR and ITAR (as well as OFAC trade embargoes). The charges point to an alleged scheme to export restricted items from the U.S. to Australia, for transshipment to Iran, in violation of numerous export control regulations. According to the Department…
Many clients are surprised when they start working on their export policy by the amount of flexibility there is – particularly when it comes to how they comply with the regulations. This most often occurs during the development or improvement of a company’s export compliance procedures. The basic goals of ITAR and EAR are relatively…
Whoever said freight forwarders weren’t responsible for export compliance? A recent settlement from the BIS seems to point at a new trend in government enforcement of U.S. export regulations. Namely, holding all parties accountable for their actions. Earlier this month, FedEx agreed to pay a $370,000 civil penalty to settle charges that it violated the…
The BIS recently published a list of seven new “best practices” to help companies improve their export trade compliance. Specifically, these best practices are designed to help avoid the diversion of dual-use items at international transshipment points (or “hubs”). Here are the seven best practices. It seems that this list comes up short on practical, real-world advice…
We hear a lot of misconceptions about ITAR and EAR in the process of educating people on these complex regulations. Here are five of the most common misconceptions people make during our various import export training sessions. 1. “Is this ITAR, EAR or both?” Any given product, information or technology could be controlled by either ITAR or EAR, but it…
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) today announced the implementation of the latest license exception under the EAR – the Strategic Trade Authorization (STA) exception. In a nutshell, STA allows for the export, re-export and in-country transfer of a variety of items subject to the EAR – without a license – to 36 different…