We frequently discuss enforcement actions in this blog, because understanding enforcement is a key aspect of trade compliance.  From a fifty-thousand foot view, each enforcement case serves as a cautionary tale about the overall need for compliance.  On a more granular level, enforcement actions provide valuable insight into how the government thinks about and targets violations of law.  These cases also showcase key details about international business practices that might pose “red flags,” and let us learn from others’ mistakes.  Effective compliance requires companies to commit high-level attention and large dollar amounts, but also requires entities to critically respond to the facts and details of particular markets on the ground.
Continue Reading Don’t try this at Home or Abroad: Export Controls and Sanctions Violations Lead to $21 Million in Penalties for Dutch Company Fokker Services B.V.

By: Thad McBride and Cheryl Palmeri

The start of the new year is the perfect time to reflect on the international trade enforcement actions of the past year and to predict what they might mean for the year ahead.  This exercise is made exponentially easier by the “Summary of Major U.S. Export Enforcement, Economic Espionage, Trade Secret, and Embargo-Related Criminal Cases” (the “Enforcement Summary”) which recently was updated through December 6, 2012.  The Enforcement Summary suggests a number of important trends in export enforcement and embargo-related cases.

Continue Reading Iran, China, and Prison: A Recap of 2012’s Major Export Enforcement and Embargo-Related Criminal Cases