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WASHINGTON -- The Commerce
Department's Bureau of Export Administration today imposed a $60,000 civil
penalty on a Mexican chemical company to settle charges it violated Export
Administration Regulations in connection with the export of potassium fluoride
from the United States to Mexico, Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement
F. Amanda DeBusk announced.
The Department alleged that PPG Industries de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., was responsible
for exporting the chemical without the required Commerce Department licenses
on eight separate occasions between July 1993 and March 1995. The Department
also alleged that, on two of those occasions, PPG Mexico knew that violations
would occur. The company neither admitted nor denied the charges, but agreed
to pay the penalty to settle the allegations. A portion of the penalty, $20,000,
will be suspended for one year, then waived if PPG Mexico commits no violations
during that time.
Potassium fluoride is controlled for export by multilateral agreement with
the 30-nation Australia Group of chemical producers because, in addition to
its legitimate commercial uses, the chemical has the potential to serve as
a precursor in a chemical weapons program.
The Bureau of Export Administration's Chicago Field Office conducted the investigation.
The Department of Commerce, through its 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.