December 2008 Volume 22, Number 12

Features

An Open Letter to President-Elect Obama
Steve Goldman writes Open Letter to President-elect Obama recommending new approach and reforms needed for U.S. export controls.
More...

Focus on Enforcement

Florida Couple Fined for Arranging Regatta in Cuba Without License
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) took the advice of an administrative law judge (ALJ) and imposed civil penalties Nov. 11, 2008, of...
More...

Cabela's Fined $680,000 for Unlicensed Exports of Rifle Scopes to 13 Countries
Cabela's, an outdoor equipment outfitter and gun chain based in Sidney, Neb., has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $680,000 to settle 152 Bureau of...
More...

Aibel Group Pleads Guilty to Violating FCPA and Deferred Prosecution Agreement
Aibel Group Ltd., of the United Kingdom, pleaded guilty Nov. 21, 2008, in Houston U.S. District Court to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices...
More...

Shu Pleads Guilty to Violating AECA and FCPA in Sales to Chinese Lab
Shu Quan-Sheng, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in China, entered a criminal plea agreement Nov. 17, 2008, to violating the Arms Export...
More...

Pair Indicted for Exporting Variety of Equipment to Iran Via UAE without Licenses
A federal grand jury in Philadelphia issued an indictment Nov. 17, 2008, charging two permanent alien residents of the United States, Mohammad Reza...
More...

Army Captain Sentenced to One Year in Jail for Smuggling Night Vision Sights to Japan
A federal judge in Seattle, Wash., sentenced U.S. Army Captain Tomoaki Iishiba to one year in prison and three years of supervised release for...
More...

Priceline Among Firms Fined by OFAC for Allegedly Violating Cuba Sanctions
Priceline.com, Incorporated, of Norwalk, Conn., agreed to pay a $12,250 fine in a settlement with Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control...
More...

Enforcement Insights by Mark Menefee

The Tragedy of Exports
By Mark D. Menefee* Strategic rivalries are most likely to revolve around trade, investments and technological innovation and acquisition, but...
More...

Regulatory Briefs

BIS Defends Extraterritorial Reach of Transfer (In-Country) in Final EAR Amendment
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) defended the extraterritorial reach of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) in the final order it...
More...

BIS Seeks Comments on Ending De Minimis Rule For Some Aviation Parts
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) asked for public comment in the Nov. 20, 2008, Federal Register on the possible removal of certain...
More...

Treasury Tries to Calm Foreign Investor Concerns in Final CFIUS Regulation
The Treasury Department is attempting to assure foreign investors that new regulations for reviewing foreign investments in national-security...
More...

OFAC Updates TSRA Guidelines and Asks for Comments on Licensing
In two separate actions, Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has updated licensing guidance for exports to Iran under the Trade...
More...

U.S. Banks Barred from Participating in U-Turn Financing of Exports to Iran
U.S. banks will no longer be permitted to participate in so-called U-Turn banking arrangements to fund exports to Iran, the Treasury Department...
More...

Policy Briefs

Report Claims Economic Benefits from Ending U.S. Export Sanctions on Iran
As the debate over whether to ease or tighten export sanctions on Iran heats up when the new Obama administration takes office in January, a new...
More...

China Commission Warns of Chinese Cyber Attacks on U.S. Business and Government
The 2008 annual report of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission sounds alarms about the growing number of cyber attacks from...
More...

New Financing Aid Programs Emerge as Exports Get Hit Hard by Economic Crisis
The global credit crisis and the economic slowdowns and recessions in many parts of the world are starting to have a sharp negative impact on...
More...

Business Urges Obama to Adopt New Approach to Cuban Sanctions Policies
President-elect Barack Obama is getting advice on a million international and domestic policy issues before his inauguration, including on changing...
More...

Inside BIS

New Commerce Secretary Must Address "Obsolete" BIS Computer System, OIG Says
Among the issues that the Obama administration's new Commerce Department secretary, Bill Richardson, will have to address is the slow progress the...
More...

BIS Says It Is Expanding Scope of Foreign Availability Beyond National Security
The Export Practitioner incorrectly described Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) plans for a new interagency process for reviewing foreign...
More...

BIS Statement on Clarification of Foreign Availability Responsibilities
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) notes that the conclusion, drawn from quotes of BIS staff, in recent articles written in the The Export...
More...