The Department of Commerce revoked export privileges for Benjamin James Cance, who was convicted in 2016 of violating the Arms Export Control Act, Commerce said in a Sept. 30 notice. Cance illegally exported gun components listed on the U.S. Munitions List, Commerce said, and was sentenced to four years in prison, two years of supervised release and a $3,000 fine. Cance was also placed on the State Department’s Debarred List, the notice said. Commerce revoked Cance’s export privileges for 10 years from his Jan. 15, 2016, conviction.
The Department of Commerce revoked export privileges for Barbara Jo Luque, who was convicted of violating the Arms Export Control Act in 2018 after illegally attempting to export items controlled on the U.S. Munitions List to Mexico, Commerce said in a Sept. 30 notice. The items included 5,000 rounds of “FMJ Russian 7.62x39 mm ammunition” and 125 Ak-47 KCI 30-round magazines, the notice said. Luque was sentenced to six months in prison, two years of supervised release and a $100 fine, the notice said. Commerce revoked Luque’s export privileges for seven years dating from her April 25, 2018, conviction.
The State Department is seeking public comments on the paperwork burden relating to a notice of proposed information collection on certain technology security/clearance plans, screening records and non-disclosure agreements required by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Comments are due Oct. 30.
The State Department appears to have inadvertently removed an incentive for companies to voluntarily disclose export control violations, according to a Sept. 25 post by Winston & Strawn, pointing to a recent settlement between the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and L3 Harris Technologies.
The Directorate of Defense Control’s Defense Export Control and Compliance System will be unavailable Sept. 28 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDT for system updates and maintenance, the DDTC said Sept. 25. Users will not be able to submit Advisory Opinion or Commodity Jurisdiction requests during the outage. DDTC said the time window for the maintenance may change. Questions or concerns should be directed to the DDTC Help Desk at (202) 663-2838 or dtradehelpdesk@state.gov.
L3 Harris Technologies reached a $13 million settlement with the State Department for violating the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, according to an order released Sept. 23 by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. The violations by Harris Corporation, a technology and defense contractor, occurred before it officially merged in July with L3 Technologies, an aerospace and defense company.
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls IT Modernization team is updating the third-party function of its Defense Export Control and Compliance System (DECCS) application, the DDTC said Sept. 16. The changes, which take effect Sept. 20, will require third-party users to “use a dedicated account to access a company’s information,” the DDTC said. If users need “access to multiple companies” as a third party, they can register “multiple accounts using unique email addresses,” the DDTC said. Questions should be directed to the Defense Trade Application System help desk at dtradehelpdesk@state.gov or (202) 663-2838.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 9-13 in case they were missed.
An interim final rule involving International Traffic in Arms Regulations definitions for activities that aren’t classified as exports, re-exports or transfers is under review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the OIRA said in a Sept. 10 notice. The rule aims to amend the ITAR to create definitions for several activities, including launching items into space, “providing technical data” to U.S. people either in the U.S. or in a “single country abroad,” and moving defense goods between U.S. states, according to the OIRA. The definitions would also remove requirements related to the “electronic transmission and storage of unclassified technical data via foreign communications infrastructure when the data is secured sufficiently to prevent access by foreign persons,” the OIRA said.
Robert Monjay, previously the acting co-division chief of the Technology and Jurisdictional Analysis Division in the State Department Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, joined Akin Gump as senior counsel in the international trade practice, the law firm said in a news release. "Monjay is a former State Department policy official responsible for the application, amendment and interpretation of International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)," the firm said. "He held similar responsibilities while previously serving as a policy official in the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security."