Where Industry and Security Intersect
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The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) today imposed a $30,000 civil penalty against Industrial Scientific Corporation (ISC) of Oakdale, Pennsylvania to resolve charges that ISC violated U.S. export control laws by exporting gas monitors to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with knowledge that they would be reexported to Iran.
"This case, like a number of others recently prosecuted, demonstrates that this Bureau will not allow exporters to evade our export control laws by transshipping goods through third countries," Acting Assistant Secretary Lisa A. Prager said.
BIS alleged that ISC violated the Export Administration Regulations (EAR ) by shipping two gas monitors from the United States to the UAE in June 1998 without obtaining the proper authorization. In addition, BIS alleged that ISC violated the EAR by transferring the gas monitors to the UAE with knowledge that the monitors would be reexported from the UAE to Iran. ISC, primarily a maker of mine safety equipment for domestic use, was cooperative in the investigation and has taken efforts to ensure its compliance with U.S. export control laws.
The United States maintains a comprehensive embargo on trade with Iran because of Iran's support for international terrorism. Under the terms of the embargo, most exports and reexports to Iran are prohibited unless they are authorized in advance by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The export to Iran of items subject to the EAR without OFAC approval is a violation of the EAR and can be subject to criminal penalties and administrative sanctions.
Acting Assistant Secretary Prager commended Special Agent Thalia Griffin of the Office of Export Enforcement's field office in Herndon, Virginia, who conducted the investigation of this case.