June 2013

Features

ITAR Compliance Risks from Cyber Intrusions
When foreign hackers break in and steal ITAR-controlled technical data from your computer system, should you disclose the theft to U.S. export enforcement agencies? David Laufman answers this growing and difficult question.
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Focus on Enforcement

U.S. Embassy Employee Sentenced to Probation for Shipping Ammo in Jordan
An American embassy employee in Amman, Jordan, was sentenced to two years' probation for exporting ammunition to Jordan in a cargo container along...
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Taiwanese Men Charged with Violating Restrictions on Designated Entities
A Taiwanese father and his son were arrested May 1, 2013, and charged with violating restrictions on doing business with designated nationals....
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Former Willbros Consultant Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison for FCPA Violations
Another executive who worked for Willbros International, Inc., is going to prison for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) as part of...
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Ship Owners Club Settles OFAC Charges of Violating Cuba, Sudan, Iran Sanctions
A marine insurance association has agreed to pay a $348,000 civil fine to settle charges of violating U.S. sanctions on Cuba, Sudan and Iran....
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Ukrainian Man Sentenced to Prison for Attempting Export of Night Vision Equipment
Volodomyr Ponomarenko, a Ukrainian citizen, was sentenced May 2, 2013, in Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S. District Court to 24 months in prison for conspiring...
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Mexican Citizen Arrested for Alleged Role in Scheme to Defraud Ex-Im Bank
The crackdown on attempts to defraud the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) continued with the arrest of a Mexican woman who allegedly obtained Ex-Im...
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One More Former Alstom Executive Indicted for FCPA Violations in Indonesia
A third former Alstom Power executive has been indicted for allegedly violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by bribing government...
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Raytheon Pays $8 Million to Settle 125 Export Charges Based on 100s of Self-Disclosures
Raytheon agreed April 30, 2013, to pay $8 million in civil penalties and remedial expenditures as part of a consent agreement with State's...
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Former Sovereign Bank VP Convicted of Wire Fraud on Ex-Im Bank-Insured Loans
James Bender, a former senior vice president of trade finance for Sovereign Bank in Boston, Mass., was found guilty May 17, 2013, of conspiracy to...
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Denver Company Owner Sentenced to Prison for Role in Ex-Im Fraud Scheme
Luis E. Moy, the purported owner of Western Steel Building Systems, a Denver steel supply company, was sentenced May 14, 2013, in Denver U.S....
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S. African Aviation Company Pays $70,000 to Settle BIS Charges of Reexport to Sudan
Solenta Aviation, a specialized commercial aviation company in Johannesburg, South Africa, agreed May 23, 2013, to pay a $70,000 civil penalty to...
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Inside BIS

BIS Ready to Accept License Applications for USML Items Moved to CCL, Hirschhorn Says
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is ready to start accepting export applications for aircraft and gas engines transferred to the Commerce...
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Hirschhorn Defends Putting Higher Fences Around More Products, Despite Reform Promise
Amidst industry concern that the Obama administration's export control reforms are putting higher fences around less sensitive exports instead of...
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Controls on Digital Products Aren't Keeping up with Technology, Advisors Told
Export controls will always be behind the curve, because product development doesn't proceed along a linear chart and responds to ever-increasing...
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Policy Briefs

Encrypted Data Store in Cloud Shouldn't Be Controlled as Export, DTAG Advises
State's Defense Trade Advisory Group (DTAG) is trying to bring some regulatory clarity to cloud computing, a new phenomenon that is not directly...
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Advisors Recommend Change in "Fundamental Research" Rules and Definition of "Public Domain"
The definition of "fundamental research" in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) should be revised to clarify the different types...
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Hochberg Faces Few Tough Questions at Hearing on His Renomination to Lead Ex-Im
The sharp criticism that stymied renewal of the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) charter in 2012 didn't surface during the Senate Banking Committee's May...
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U.S.-Australia Defense Trade Treaty Goes into Effect After Exchange of Notes
An exchange of diplomatic notes between Australia's Minister for Defense Stephen Smith and Jeffrey Bleich, U.S. ambassador to Australia, in...
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ITAR and EAR Should Have Almost Common Definition of "Technical Data," DTAG Says
State's Defense Trade Advisory Group (DTAG) recommended May 9, 2013, that State and Commerce adopt a common - but not word-for-word - definition of...
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Business Groups Call for More Export Control Reforms in Letter to President Obama
The U.S. exporting community is pleased with the progress so far of the Obama administration's export control reform initiative, but it has a long...
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Congress, OFAC Take Action to Tighten Sanctions Against Iranian Oil Exports, Banking
Legislation that would compel countries that are still purchasing crude oil from Iran to reduce their purchases by 1 million barrels a day within a...
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Enforcement Coordinator Pelak Leaving Justice for Private Practice
The Justice Department official who has led the federal government's effort to increase enforcement of U.S. export controls is leaving for private...
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Exporting from Europe

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?
By David Hayes* "The difficulty in dealing with a maze or labyrinth lies not so much in navigating the convolutions to find the exit but in not...
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Regulatory Briefs

Agencies Propose Move of Commercial Satellites from USML to CCL
After a 14-year detour into munitions controls, commercial satellites will return to export control on the Commerce Control List (CCL) under...
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State Reproposes Definition of "Defense Services" to Based on Industry Comments
In response to numerous public comments complaining about a proposal it issued in April 2011 to revise the definition of "defense services" in the...
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End Notes

END NOTES
DDTC : Managing director post, held by Robert Kovac until his retirement at end of March, will not be filled. Instead, agency's three offices...
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