BIS Adds New Requirement for Antiboycott Reporting
The Bureau of Industry and Security will now require companies that report boycott requests to inform BIS of the “specific party who made the request,” Matthew Axelrod, the agency’s top export enforcement official, said in a July 26 policy memo to enforcement employees. Companies previously were only required to report to BIS that they received the boycott request and the “country from which the request originated,” the memo said. Information on the identity of the requester will allow BIS to “more easily investigate and hold accountable” parties engaging in a boycott.
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BIS also placed a new “antiboycott policy statement” on U.S. acquisition management websites that “clearly articulates the requirements of the antiboycott regulations and their applicability to U.S. government acquisition contracts,” the memo said. The policy statement encourages contractors to “abide by the antiboycott regulations as part of their contractual responsibilities, especially if they want to do business with one of the world’s largest procurement organizations,” Axelrod said during a July 26 Society for International Affairs conference.
“Compliance with the antiboycott regulations is not optional,” Axelrod said, according to a copy of his speech emailed by BIS. “All U.S. companies -- whether federal contractors or not -- should familiarize themselves with the antiboycott regulations and reporting requirements.”