New York Company Settles Charges of Unlawful Exports To India

The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced that RLC Electronics, Inc. (RLC) of Mount Kisco, NY agreed to a $30,000 civil penalty to settle charges that it violated the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) charged that between March 2002 and April 2003, RLC exported power dividers and low pass filters without the Department of Commerce (DOC) required licenses to the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore, India. BIS also charged that in January 2003, RLC exported position switches without the DOC required license to the ISRO Sriharikota Space Center (SHAR) in Bangalore, India.

At the time of the export, ISTRAC and SHAR were on BIS’s Entity List and exports to ISTRAC and SHAR therefore required prior authorization. The Entity List is a compilation of end users who have been determined to present an unacceptable risk of diversion to developing weapons of mass destruction or missiles used to deliver these weapons. BIS maintains the Entity List to inform the public of export license requirements related to these entities.

BIS also charged that RLC made false statements on a Shipper’s Export Declaration submitted to the U.S. Government.

Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Julie L. Myers commended the New York Field Office for their work on the investigation.