United Kingdom Company Settles Charges Pertaining to Reexports to Libya

The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced that Price Brothers (UK) Limited of Surrey, United Kingdom, agreed to pay civil penalties totaling $101,500 to settle charges pertaining to unlicensed reexports of U.S.-origin commodities from the United Kingdom to Libya. These reexports were made in violation of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and a trade embargo against Libya, which was in place from January 1986 until April 2004.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) charged that, on six occasions between January 2000 and April 2000, Price Brothers (UK) supplied machinery spare parts to an entity in the United Kingdom, which subsequently reexported them to Libya without obtaining licenses from BIS.

BIS also charged that, on 23 occasions between June 2000 and June 2002, Price Brothers (UK) reexported machinery spare parts from the United Kingdom to a company in Libya without obtaining licenses from BIS.

Price Brothers (UK) voluntarily self-disclosed the violations and cooperated fully in the investigation. BIS considers voluntary self-disclosures to be a significant mitigating factor when negotiating settlements of administrative cases.

The Department of Commerce administers and enforces export controls for reasons of national security, foreign policy, nonproliferation, anti-terrorism, and short supply through the EAR. Criminal prosecution and administrative sanctions can be imposed for violations of those regulations.

Acting Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Wendy L. Wysong commended the Office of Export Enforcement’s Washington Field Office for its work on this investigation.