BIS Fines California Company for Illegal Exports
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a California-based satellite communications company $122,000 for illegally exporting controlled goods to Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Brazil. BIS said the company, Comtech Xicom Technology, exported more than $150,000 worth of “traveling wave tubes” (TWT) without licenses, a March 18 order said.
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Comtech knew the items were subject to export controls, but company compliance officials “incorrectly determined” that the goods didn’t need licenses, BIS said. A compliance official approved several of the controlled exports and said they didn’t need a BIS authorization. The exports were for about $25,000 worth of TWT to a Russian company in 2015, more than $100,000 worth to the UAE in 2016 and about $23,000 worth to Brazil in 2017, BIS said.
When compliance officials tried to determine whether the Brazil shipment was subject to a license requirement, they “incorrectly determined that the item was controlled for anti-terrorism reasons only” and didn’t need a license, BIS said. The items were controlled for national security reasons, the agency said, which subjects them to different license requirements.
If Comtech doesn’t pay its fine within 30 days of the order, it will be assessed other penalties and may have its export privileges revoked, BIS said. Comtech didn’t comment.