BIS to Expand Chief Counsel's Office, Seeing Spike in Russia Investigations
The Bureau of Industry and Security plans to add more attorneys to its chief counsel's office to keep pace with its Russia-related export controls, a Commerce Department official said during the BIS annual update conference last week. The counsel has about 15 lawyers but expects to add more “in the coming months,” said the official, speaking on background as part of a conference policy for career staff. “It really has been unprecedented times over the past six months,” the official said, adding that the counsel’s office wants “to make sure that we can match” the rest of the agency “as the amount and intensity of work continues.”
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The BIS Office of Export Enforcement has opened 92 Russia-related investigations since that nation invaded Ukraine in February, another official said, compared with just 27 Russia-related investigations the agency had opened in the few months prior to the invasion. OEE has also seen a spike in other enforcement areas, especially in 2021, partly because many courts reopened that year after stopping operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That pushed the imposition of penalties to 2021,” the official said, which created “amazing statistics.” The agency saw a 16% increase in criminal fines and an 81% increase in imprisonment from 2020 to 2021, the official said. The numbers sparked a congressional request from lawmakers “trying to learn more about our increased enforcement efforts,” the person said. As of last week, the official said, the agency has 1,913 open investigations.
That enforcement pace has continued partly because of the Russia export controls. “Our daily operations have exponentially increased with the Russia sanctions implementation,” another official said. OEE is working more with enforcement agencies of U.S. trading partners to catch violators, the official said, specifically sharing shipping trends and diversion rates. The agency also recently has doubled-down on end-use checks by temporarily assigning special agents abroad, the official said. “Now that the coalition has implemented aligned regulations, enforcement will start to play a critical role in ensuring that these regulations have some teeth.”