BIS Announces Antiboycott Settlements
On September 30, 2004, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Indutry and Security (BIS) announced the settlement of two cases involving violations of the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
In the first case, St. Jude Medical Export GmbH, an Austrian subsidiary of a Minnesota-based U.S. exporter of medical equipment, agreed to pay a $30,000 civil penalty to settle charges that it violated the antiboycott provisions of the EAR by failing to report in a timely manner its receipt of three requests from an Iraqi government agency to adhere to the rules of the Israeli boycott during the 2000-2001 reporting period. BIS also charged that, on four occasions, St. Jude violated the antiboycott provisions by agreeing to refuse to do business with blacklisted persons.
In the second case, Arab Bank Plc., of New York, agreed to pay a $9,000 civil penalty to settle charges that it violated the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by furnishing prohibited information about another company’s business relationships in connection with a transaction involving the sale of goods to Oman. BIS also charged that Arab Bank failed to maintain records relating to a reportable boycott request.
The antiboycott provisions of the EAR prohibit U.S. persons from complying with certain requirements of unsanctioned foreign boycotts, including providing information about business relationships with another person who is known or believed to be restricted from having a business relationship with or in a boycotting country. In addition, the EAR requires that U.S. persons report their receipt of certain boycott requests to the Department of Commerce. Under the antiboycott provisions of the EAR, a controlled-in-fact foreign subsidiary of a domestic U.S. company is considered a U.S. person.
Labels: Boycotts
|posted by Douglas N. Jacobson| Permalink 
