Where Industry and Security Intersect
What's New | Sitemap | Search
For Immediate Release -
August 28, 2003
Contact: BIS Public Affairs 202-482-2721
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced today that W.R. Grace & Co.-Conn. (W.R. Grace), of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $178,500 to settle allegations that W.R. Grace violated the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by shipping chemicals without the required export licenses. The payment of the penalty will be subject to the outcome of bankruptcy proceedings involving W.R. Grace in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) alleged that W.R. Grace exported triethanolamine on 51 occasions to end-users in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Venezuela without the required licenses. Exports of triethanolamine require a license because the substance can be used to manufacture chemical weapons. W.R. Grace voluntarily disclosed the violations to BIS and cooperated fully in the investigation.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Lisa A. Prager commended Special Agent James Brigham of BIS’s Boston Field Office for his efforts in this investigation.