BIS Fines US Company for Illegal Exports Stemming From No Compliance Program

The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a U.S. security equipment manufacturer $140,000 for illegally exporting stun guns, police batons, handcuffs and pepper spray to countries in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, BIS said in a June 23 order. The company, Florida-based Skyline USA, also violated Export Administration Regulations recordkeeping requirements for the exports, which were shipped to Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay. The exports, sent during 2014 to 2016, were worth about $50,000.

BIS said Skyline didn’t have an export control compliance program despite its decade of experience as an exporter. Because it didn’t have a program, it “lacked procedures to determine the classification” of its exports under the EAR and the license requirements for those goods, including for shipments of items controlled for crime-control reasons, the order said.

BIS said its Office of Export Enforcement in 2016 and 2017 interviewed Skyline’s managing director, who “demonstrated unfamiliarity with basic export control concepts and practices.” The director told BIS that he had “no knowledge” of the EAR or of lists of restricted persons maintained by the government.

Along with the illegal exports, BIS said the company didn’t retain its required shipping records, including its bills of lading, air waybills and communications with freight forwarders and foreign customers. When BIS’s OEE issued a subpoena in 2016 that requested all documents related to the illegal exports, Skyline gave BIS only one document for each transaction: the sales invoice.

BIS said Skyline will pay $10,000 of the $140,000 fine in 10 monthly installments of $1,000, with the first payment due Aug. 1. The agency said it will waive the remaining $130,000 after two years of suspension if Skyline complies with its settlement agreement with BIS, which includes a two-year probationary period during which it must not incur any further violations of EAR. If Skyline doesn’t comply, BIS said it may revoke its export privileges. Skyline didn’t comment.