Nebraska Outdoor Equipment Outfitter, Cabela’s Incorporated, Settles Export Allegations

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced today that Cabela’s Incorporated, an outdoor equipment outfitter based in Sidney, Nebraska, has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $680,000 to settle allegations that it committed 152 violations of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) involving the export of controlled optical sighting devices to various countries worldwide. 

"Compliance programs must be routinely reviewed and updated so that they keep pace with ever-changing business practices,” said Darryl W. Jackson, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement.  “Failing to do so can result in numerous violations occurring over time, which undermines our foreign policy objectives.”

The allegations involved 76 exports of optical sighting devices for firearms in 2004 and 2005 to Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Finland, Ireland, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa, Sweden, and Taiwan.  These devices are controlled on the Commerce Control List for crime control and firearms convention reasons and require a license to export to the various destinations at issue.  BIS also alleged that Cabela’s failed to file the required Shipper’s Export Declaration for each of the 76 exports in question.

In 2005, Cabela’s settled similar allegations made by BIS that, on 685 occasions between April 1999 and September 2000, Cabela’s made unlicensed exports of optical sighting devices to a number of countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, and Mexico.

Assistant Secretary Jackson praised the BIS Office of Export Enforcement's Chicago Field Office for its outstanding work on this case.

BACKGROUND

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 weapons non-proliferation, crime control, regional stability, firearms conventions and anti-terrorism.  Criminal penalties and administrative sanctions can be imposed for violations of the Export Administration Regulations.  For more information, please visit http://www.bis.doc.gov.

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