State of Commerce on Export Compliance Program

How the government agency (State or Commerce) handles that disclosure and determines if it will levy a penalty or whether it will require monitoring or oversight of the company’s activities, can be based in large part, on how the company compliance program is setup and what steps the company undertakes to fix the cause of the violation(s) and prevent future occurrences.

The DDTC and BIS generally require companies to provide their export compliance manuals, policies and procedures as support documents to the corrective actions cited in a voluntary disclosure. Government enforcement and compliance personnel reviewing the disclosure will want information pertaining to training provided to key staff including senior management & compliance personnel as well as relevant departments/persons involved in the violation . Both DDTC and BIS will want to know the specific details on the company’s audit program including internal and external audits, when and where they were last performed and how frequently they are performed.

Where does your company stand with respect to a documented compliance program with processes and procedures, training and internal/external audits? Don’t let your compliance program be implemented via a voluntary disclosure! Taking a proactive stance in establishing all necessary steps to ensure export compliance will help prevent costly mistakes that could lead to fines and sanctions.

Questions and steps to consider:

  •  Does your company have sufficient resources allocated to export compliance?
  •  Are your resources adequately trained in the ITAR and the EAR?
  •  Do you have a good process to determine the correct jurisdiction and classification of your products and technology for export purposes?
  •  Do you have a documented export compliance plan?
  • Is your compliance plan implemented in the day-to-day processes of the company operations?

Instead of spending dollars on government mandated programs as a result of a voluntary disclosure, why not engage one of our export compliance experts to assist your company with establishing a meaningful export compliance program. We offer customized training programs for all levels within the company. We have baseline export compliance manuals and procedures, ready to be tailored to your company’s specific requirements. We offer one or two day onsite procedure reviews to identify weaknesses in your compliance program and make recommendations for improvement. Call us to find out how FD Associates may assist you.

You can learn more about FD Associates Inc by visiting their website from this link.