DENIED PERSONS LIST:
Commerce Department added the following parties to the Denied Persons List:
- ABO (USA) INC., 2563 NW 20th St, Miami, FL 33142 (12/22/03): Commerce took this action in response to charges that ABO committed two violations of the Export Administration Regulations by illegally export commercial night vision scopes to Japan without an export license.
- Omega Engineering, Inc., One Omega Drive, Stamford, Connecticut 06907 (11/18/03): Commerce listed Omega for 17 violations related to illegal exports of laboratory equipment via Newport Electronics GmbH in Germany to Pakistan. Omega’s illegal exports came two to three months after Commerce denied Omega’s license application to export the items to Pakistan. Everybody knows that the government watches companies who get their licenses denied – I guess everybody but Omega knows that. Obviously, Omega is a good example of the law enforcement belief that if a company gets an export license denied, it will export anyway. Omega’s denied status is focused on transactions involving Pakistan. Commerce also fined Omega $187,000. In April of 2003 Omega pled guilty to criminal violations and received a $313,000 fine.
- Ralph Michel, Vice President, Omega Engineering, Inc., One Omega Drive, Stamford, Connecticut 06907 (11/18/03): Commerce put Michel, the CFO of Omega, on the list for his involvement in the Omega violations. Michel’s denied status is focused on transactions involving Pakistan. In April of 2003 Michel pled guilty to criminal violations and received 10 months of confinement and a $50,000 fine.
So, now you have an example that demonstrates that the government may go after senior company officials in addition to the company. - Ahwaz Steel Commercial & Technical Service Gmbh (ASOTEC), Tersteegenstr. 10, 40474 Dusseldorf, Germany AND Metal & Mineral Trade Sarl (MMT), Rue Pierre D’Aspelt, 1142 Luxembourg, Luxembourg. Commerce announced settlement agreement with these two parties in relation to charges that they caused illegal exports from the United States to Iran.
TERRORIST LIST:
In the December 23 Federal Register the State Department published notices adding aliases to the terrorist designation of various terrorist organizations. See www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a031223c.html.
MISSILE PROLIFERATION SANCTIONS
In the December 24 Federal Register the State Department imposed missile proliferation sanctions against:
- Blagoja Samakoski (Macedonian national)
- Mikrosam (Macedonia)
These sanctions prohibit the approval of license for transfers to these parties of military and commercial items controlled by the Missile Technology Control Regime Annex. The sanctions also prohibit US Government contracts with these entities.
As a practical matter, exporters should read a bit more into these sanctions: First, if you ever deal with these entities, you must assume there are significant “red flags” indicating possible illegal missile activities and treat the transaction accordingly. Second, it is likely that the US Government will deny most, if not all, license applications for these parties.
