Two Manufacturers of Western Red Cedar Utility Poles Settle Charges Involving Unlicensed Exports to Canada

The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced that The McFarland Cascade Pole and Lumber Company and The Oeser Company, manufacturers of lumber and wood products headquartered in Washington State, agreed to pay civil penalties to settle charges that they violated the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by exporting unprocessed western red cedar to Canada for further processing at wood treatment plants without obtaining licenses from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).

Exports of unprocessed Western red cedar harvested from state and federal lands in the United States are controlled for short supply reasons and require a license for export to any destination outside the United States.

McFarland agreed to settle charges relating to 1136 unlicensed exports of unprocessed Western red cedar to Canada for further processing from November 1999 to February 2004. McFarland will pay a civil penalty in the amount of $454,000.

Oeser agreed to settle charges relating to 208 unlicensed exports of unprocessed Western red cedar to Canada for further processing during the same time period and has agreed to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $83,200.

McFarland and Oeser agreed to settle prior to a penalty determination hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). In June, the ALJ issued a summary decision as a matter of law in favor of BIS, ruling that the companies’ exports to Canada required licenses from BIS.

Acting Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Wendy L. Wysong commended BIS’s San Jose Field Office for its work on this investigation.