Export controlFedEx fined $370,000 for export violations

FedEx fined for anti-terror export violations // Source: exblog.jp

Shipping giant FedEx has agreed to pay $370,000 in fines for violating anti-terrorism export measures.

According to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, the payment comes as a result of six shipments from 2004 to 2006 that violated Export Administration Regulations.

Jim McCluskey, a spokesman for FedEx, explained, “This was an inadvertent and very limited number of export shipments involving discrepancies with the Export Administration Regulations. These were limited shipping issues which involved only six packages from 2004 to 2006.”

Two of the exports were destined for a Dubai company that has been investigated for using U.S. computer hardware to build improvised explosive devices used in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prior to the packages’ arrival, agents in the U.S. Commerce Department stopped the shipment of an Intel PC Dialogic Board and other computer equipment after the company submitted electronic freight forwarding documents to federal authorities.

Three other violations involved printer components bound to Syria without the required U.S. licenses, and the final incident involved the shipment of flight simulation software to the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, which is barred from receiving certain security-sensitive items from the United States.

McCulskey said in all six of the incidents, U.S. regulations and FedEx’s procedures helped to keep items from falling into the wrong hands.

“We do have a strong security process in place with regard to movement of our shipments,” McCluskey said. “It appears the checkpoint process with respect to these shipments worked.”