International Trade Law News /title <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> <meta name="verify-v1" content="6kFGcaEvnPNJ6heBYemQKQasNtyHRZrl1qGh38P0b6M=" /> <head> <title>International Trade Law News

« Home | BIS Adds India as Eligible Destination for VEU Pro... » | House Committees to Hold Joint Hearing on Import S... » | CBP Trade Symposium is a Sell Out » | Quito, Ecuador to Host International Arbitration C... » | BIS Announces Launch of U.S.-Israel High Technolog... » | California Container Fee Proposal Withdrawn » | BIS Extends Comment Period on CCL Changes » | Export Controls Discussed at ComDef 2007 Conferenc... » | BIS Publishes Two Notices in Today's Federal Register » | Christopher Padilla Nominated to Head Internationa... » 

October 02, 2007 

House Passes Law to Increase Penalties for Violating Export Control Laws

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed by voice vote the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (S. 1612), a bill that will significantly increase the penalties for violating IEEPA-based export control laws. Because the Senate passed the identical bill in June, the measure will be sent to the President for signature, which is likely to take place in a matter of days.

The passage of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ("IIEPA Act") means that the maximum civil penalty for violating IIEPA-based export control laws will increase from $50,000 per violation to $250,000 or twice the amount of the transaction that is the basis of the violation with respect to which the penalty is imposed. The maximum criminal penalties for committing willful violations of IEEPA-based export control laws will increase to $1,000,000, with a maximum jail sentence of 20 years.

The original civil penalty amount was set at $10,000 when IEEPA (P.L. 95-223) was passed in 1977. Other than an inflation adjustment raising the maximum penalty amount to $11,000, there were no increases until the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act in 2005 (Public Law 109-177) raised the level to $50,000. Thus, once the IEEPA Act is signed into law, the maximum civil penalties for export control violations will have increased more than 2170% in two years.

The IEEPA currently serves as the legal basis for the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and most of the sanctions regimes administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The most notable exceptions are the sanctions programs on Cuba and North Korea which were issued under the authority of the Trading With the Enemy Act.

The changes in penalties will apply to all pending enforcement actions as well as those commenced on or after the date of the IIEPA Act's enactment.

Labels: , ,


Editor

Subscribe

Subscribe to our confidential mailing list

Mobile Version

Search Trade Law News

International Trade and Compliance Jobs

Jobs from Indeed

Archives

Categories

Disclaimer

  • This Site is presented for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed when you use this Site. Do not consider the Site to be a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney. The information on this Site may be changed without notice and is not guaranteed to be complete, correct or up-to-date. While we try to revise this Site on a regular basis, it may not reflect the most current legal developments. The opinions expressed on this Site are the opinions of the individual author.
  • The content on this Site may be reproduced and/or distributed in whole or in part, provided that its source is indicated as "International Trade Law News, www.tradelawnews.com".
  • ©2003-2015. All rights reserved.

Translate This Site


Powered by Blogger