Minnesota Company Fined For Attempted Dealings with Indian Nuclear Facilities

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) today announced the imposition of civil penalties against MTS Systems Corporation (MTS) of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, in connection with the submission by MTS of misleading export license applications regarding proposed shipments to entities associated with Indian nuclear facilities.  MTS will pay a $400,000 civil penalty to settle allegations that MTS committed two violations of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).  

BIS alleged that MTS made material misrepresentations on the two export license applications filed in 2003 and 2004 with BIS, one valued at $525,000 to the Electrical Research and Development Association (ERDA) in Makarpura, India, and another valued at more than $3,000,000, to the Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC) in Chennai, India.  BIS alleged in both instances that MTS had knowledge that the equipment could be involved in seismic testing at Indian nuclear facilities.

In a related criminal matter, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that MTS plead guilty to two counts of False Writings and paid $400,000 in criminal penalties.  MTS also agreed to be subject to two years of corporate probation.

In a previous Commerce Department enforcement action in 2006, MTS paid a $36,000 civil penalty to settle charges related to a transaction involving a prohibited end user in India, the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research. 

Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Darryl W. Jackson praised the Office of Export Enforcement’s Chicago Field Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota for their work on this case.

BIS controls exports and re-exports of dual-use commodities, technology and software for reasons of national security, missile technology, nuclear non-proliferation, chemical and biological non-proliferation, crime control and regional stability. Criminal civil and administrative sanctions can be imposed for violations of the Export Administration Regulations. For more information, please visit www.bis.doc.gov.

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