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WASHINGTON -- The Commerce Department today denied export privileges for 15 years to Ben H. Attia, also known as Adnan Attia, Miami Beach, Fla., individually and doing business as General Polyphase, Inc. in Tunis, Tunisia, for exporting ballistic shields to Tunisia without obtaining the required export license, Under Secretary of Commerce William A. Reinsch announced.
In April 1996, Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement issued a charging letter alleging that Ben Attia, doing business as General Polyphase, exported the ballistic shields valued at $32,300 to Tunisia without the required export license. At the time of the export, the ballistic shields required a validated license to most destinations, including Tunisia, for foreign policy reasons. The charges arose from an investigation conducted by the Boston, Ma. Office of Export Enforcement Field Office.
Under Secretary Reinsch issued the denial order because Attia failed to respond to the charging letter. On September 29, 1997, an Administrative Law Judge recommended that a suspension of export privileges was an appropriate penalty after reviewing the evidence of violations of the Export Administration Regulations.
The Department’s Bureau of Export Administration administers and enforces export controls for reasons of national security, foreign policy, nonproliferation and short supply. Criminal penalties, as well as administrative sanctions, can be imposed for violations of the regulations.
In April of 2002 the Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) changed its name to the Bureau of Industry and Security(BIS). For historical purposes we have not changed the references to BXA in the legacy documents found in the Archived Press and Public Information.