HOUSTON COMPANY SETTLES CHARGES OF ANTIBOYCOTT VIOLATIONS

The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced that National-Oilwell L.P. (NOW) of Houston, Texas, agreed to pay a $3,000 civil penalty to settle allegations that it violated the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) charged that, on one occasion in 2001 in connection with transactions involving the sale and ultimate transfer of goods from the United States to Syria, NOW furnished prohibited information about its business relationships with Israel in violation of the EAR. BIS also charged that NOW failed to report in a timely manner its receipt of the request from an intermediary in Croatia to provide such certification.

The company voluntarily disclosed the transactions and cooperated fully with the investigation.

The antiboycott provisions of the EAR prohibit U.S. persons from complying with certain requirements of unsanctioned foreign boycotts, including furnishing information about business relationships with or in Israel. In addition, the EAR requires that U.S. persons report their receipt of certain boycott requests to the Department of Commerce.