International Trade Law News

Published by Jacobson Burton Kelley PLLC

The last month has seen a flurry of enforcement cases being settled at the Bureau of Industry of Industry and Security (BIS) and today is no exception. Today BIS officials announced the settlement of three more enforcement cases for alleged violations of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), including another case involving exports to parties named on the Entity List.

Berkeley Nucleonics Corporation
BNC Corp., also known as Berkeley Nucleonics Corporation (BNC), of San Rafael, California, has agreed to a $55,000 civil penalty and a five-year denial of export privileges to settle charges that it made unlicensed exports in violation of the EAR. BIS had charged that between 1998 and 2000, BNC exported and attempted to export shipments of nuclear pulse generators to the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) in India without the required licenses. At the time of the export, DAE and NPC were both on the BIS Entity List and exports to DAE and NPC therefore required prior authorization. This settlement is the latest among a number of cases that involve exports to parties named on the Entity List. In related criminal cases, BNC pled guilty in the Northern District of California on June 9, 2004 to violating the EAR and was fined $300,000. On December 17, 2003, two former employees of BNC, Richard Hamilton and Vincent Delfino, also pled guilty.

Kennametal Inc.
Kennametal Inc., based in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, has agreed to pay a $262,500 civil penalty to settle charges that it exported nickel powder to Chile, Peru, Taiwan and Israel without an export licenses. BIS had charged that between August 1998 and April 2003 Kennametal committed 75 violations of the EAR. Kennametal also was charged with providing false or misleading representations on export documentation and failing to comply with reporting and record keeping requirements. Kennametal voluntarily disclosed the violations to BIS.

Atotech USA Inc.
Atotech USA Inc., of Rock Hill, South Carolina, has agreed to pay a $14,000 civil penalty to settle charges that it exported chemicals to Hong Kong in violation of the EAR. BIS had charged that in 2001, Atotech exported Econo-Chrome 140 S Chromate, a toxic chemical containing potassium bi-chromate and sodium fluoride, to an end-user in Hong Kong without an export license. Econo-Chrome 140 S Chromate is a controlled export under the EAR for chemical and biological, chemical warfare and antiterrorism reasons.