With every thing becoming more and more global, it is gradually becoming more difficult for businesses, organizations or institutions to operate solely within one country. However, doing business internationally often has its own set of challenges, one of them being shipping. There are law and regulations specifically for export, such as the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). These regulations, if violated, have hefty fines. Export violations can come with both criminal and civil penalties. Several businesses have learned that lesson the hard way.
CGG Services S.A.’s Violation
One of the more recent violations was from CGG Services S.A., a provider of services and goods for oil and gas exploration. They had to pay over $600,000 dollars in fines after exporting spare parts and other equipment from the US to ships in Cuba’s territorial waters.
Raytheon’s Violation
In 2013, Raytheon had to pay a $4 million dollar penalty after they were found to be inaccurately tracking temporary imports and exports, improperly documenting those imports and exports, and other violations.
FedEx Violation
Even shipping companies themselves are not exempt. FedEx was fined $370,000 dollars after violating Export Administration Regulations. The shipments were containing computer hardware and printer components.
University Violations
These export control regulations also apply to universities and colleges. Universities can be fined $1,000,000 or fives times the value of the export for each violation they willingly committed. An individual can receive a fine up to $250,000 and/or a 10 year prison sentence for each willing violation. An example of a university violation was from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell for the unlicensed export of an atmospheric testing device and other related equipment. They had to pay a $100,000 dollars for this violation.
Importance of a Compliance System
These are just a few of the numerous violations that have occurred over the last decade or so. There have been several companies that face fines into the tens of millions for export violations. It is important for businesses and institutions to have an export compliance system in place to avoid facing hefty fines and potential jail time.
Tools to Help With Export Control and Compliance
A compliance system should include a compliance officer who can develop, enforce and manage all compliance related issues. This may sound like a daunting job, but there are tools that can help make export shipping and compliance easier. eShipGlobal offers an enterprise module specifically for export control and compliance. It is designed to help organizations with export shipping and maintaining government compliance, whether the shipment it is a hazardous material or not. One of the benefits of using this module is reducing the risk of fines, delays or potential jail.
Why is it Important?
As globalization increases, the need to export compliance and compliance systems will grow as well. It is important not to wait until you or your organization is facing penalties due to non-compliance. The fines are not a small amount and should be taken seriously.
Call-to-Action
eShipGlobal strives to simplify and enhance the shipment of goods with our various shipping management solutions. Our solutions include export control and the shipping of hazardous materials and dangerous goods. If you would like to hear more about eShipGlobal, you can contact us at (972) 518-1775 using ext. 116.
By: Ashley Cue
Source Links:
https://www.ecustoms.com/trade_compliance_resources/us_export_violations.html
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20120117-fedex-fined-370-000-for-export-violations
http://www.williamsmullen.com/news/university-charged-export-violations
http://orsp.appstate.edu/news/umass-lowell-fined-100000-export-control-violations
https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/resources/director/presentations/cms.pdf
https://www2.eshipglobal.com/export-control-2/
