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Government Contracts Monitor

Export Controls

Are there Cybersecurity Risks in Your Supply Chain?

By now we all know that the Federal Government has dramatically increased its efforts to reduce threats to cybersecurity: witness a case in the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) where the Social Security Administration (SSA), in acquiring new printers, was determined to avoid supply chain risks it suspected were present in a bidder’s offer. The bidder protested, but the COFC agreed with the agency.

Short Take: BIS Revises Administrative Enforcement Guidance to Improve Predictability

Last week, the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industrial Security (BIS) issued a final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to update its Guidance on Charging and Penalty Determinations in Settlement of Administrative Enforcement Cases (the ‘‘BIS Guidelines’’).

The new rule rewrites the BIS Guidelines, which are found in Supplement No. 1 to part 766 of the EAR and identify…

Department of State Proposes Changes to United States Munitions List Categories VIII and XIX

The latest outcome of the President’s ongoing Export Control Reform (ECR) effort is the recent Department of State (DoS) proposal to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to revise Categories VIII (aircraft and related articles) and XIX (gas turbine engines and associated equipment) of the U.S. Munitions List (USML) to describe more precisely the articles warranting control…

Short Take: If It’s Listed on the Munitions List, It’s Export Controlled. Period.

If anyone is still laboring under the impression that the U.S. Government will not prosecute "minor" violations of the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR), they need to wise up. Even improper exports of handguns to people in "friendly" countries can trigger enforcement actions. And it makes no difference where in the United States the problematic exports originate.

Case in point:…

ShortTake: “Unavoidable” Export Violations

The export and temporary import of defense articles and services is governed by the Arms Export Control Act (AECA). The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) implements the AECA.

The typical AECA/ITAR violation involves export or re-export of a defense article without a license or other authorization. But a recent report regarding the U.S. Marine Corps’ evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in…

Short Take: Another Export Violator Behind Bars

The Department of Justice recently announced that Mozaffar Khazaee has pleaded guilty to violating the Arms Export Control Act.  DOJ Announcement.  The violation occurred when Khazaee sent “sensitive, proprietary, trade secret and export controlled material relating to military jet engines for the U.S. Air Force’s F35 Joint Strike Fighter program and the F-22 Raptor program” to…

Short Take: Subcontractor Illegal Export/Import of Military Articles

The Assistant Attorney General for National Security, the U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Illinois, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service recently announced the indictment of an Illinois company, its president, and a former employee for unlawfully exporting and importing military articles, including components used in night vision…

Protest Phobia – Propelling Poor Procurement

Agencies are in the hot seat when it comes to protests.  First, it’s the Contracting Officer’s (CO’s) job to prevent a protest from being filed and, second, if a protest is filed, it’s the CO’s job, working with agency procurement counsel, to make sure the protest is not successful.  But is the fear of protests driving agencies to make bad decisions?  We think so.

The most common…

Where You Manufacture and Whether and What You Export Make a Difference: Don’t Claim “Domestic End Product” or Export Defense Articles Without Proper Authority

A criminal complaint filed by the United States in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey on September 12, 2014, alleges that Alper Calik, a government contractor, knowingly and willfully (i) defrauded the United States Department of Defense (DoD) by claiming that Amphibious Assault Vehicle parts manufactured in Turkey were “domestic end products”, and (ii) exported items…

Taiwanese Circuit Boards Cost a Contractor Four Months in Prison

In a recent case, United States v. Precision Image Corporation, Inc. and Chih-Kwanh Hwa, No.13-CR-00226, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, the owner of a circuit board supplier was sentenced to prison for selling Taiwanese-manufactured circuit boards to the U.S. Navy. Chih-Kwanh Hwa, Precision Image’s owner, successfully bid on $180,034 of Navy contracts for circuit…

Exporters Beware: What You Don’t Know About Your Offshore Partners Can Hurt You

You may understand the financial rewards of selling goods and services abroad, but do you understand the risks?  Whether you are dealing with an offshore partner, distributor or representative, there are proactive steps you should take to protect yourself against potential claims of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Jackson Kelly attorney E. Leslie “Pete” Hoffman will speak…

 

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