You need to look no further than to Atlanta companies to realize that the export enforcement team of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Export Administration means business.
In February, the Commerce Department imposed a $60,000 civil penalty on Marietta-based LEP Profit International for allegedly preparing shipping documents containing false information. According to the department, the firm’s Seattle office prepared and used export control documents for exports bound for Vietnam when actually none of the exports were licensed.
In another case, the department imposed a $30,000 civil penalty last year on Atlanta-based Thysseen Haniel Logistics Inc., formerly known as Amerford International Corp., for allegedly preparing shipping documents that contained false information.
Representatives of the Department’s Business Executives’ Enforcement Team (BEET) were in Atlanta June 11 not to pick on local companies so much as to underline the importance of an Export Management System.
The publication, Don’t let This Happen to You, was distributed to attendees at a seminar of the Atlanta Women in International Trade held in the auditorium of the Georgia Power headquarters downtown.
With the number of investigations rapidly climbing each year, from 750 to 1990 to some 1,700 in 1998 already, Frank Deliberti, a deputy assistant secretary in the department, warned that the responsibility for abiding with export controls falls now more on exporters than ever before.
A summary of the guidelines recommended by the department are may be obtained from The Special Licensing and Compliance Division of the Office of Exporter Services at (202) 482-0062; fax, (202) 501-6750.