International Trade Law News

The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced that The McFarland Cascade Pole and Lumber Company and The Oeser Company, manufacturers of lumber and wood products headquartered in Washington State, agreed to pay civil penalties to settle charges that they violated the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by exporting unprocessed western red cedar to Canada for further processing at wood treatment plants without obtaining the required export licenses.

Exports of unprocessed Western red cedar harvested from state and federal lands in the United States are controlled for short supply reasons and require a license for export to any destination outside the U.S.

McFarland agreed to settle charges relating to 1136 unlicensed exports of unprocessed Western red cedar to Canada for further processing from November 1999 to February 2004. McFarland will pay a civil penalty in the amount of $454,000.

Oeser agreed to settle charges relating to 208 unlicensed exports of unprocessed Western red cedar to Canada for further processing during the same time period and has agreed to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $83,200.

BIS noted that McFarland and Oeser agreed to the settlement prior to a penalty determination hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). In June, the ALJ issued a summary decision as a matter of law in favor of BIS, ruling that the companies’ exports to Canada required licenses from BIS.