DDTC Revises FAQs regarding US Persons abroad

/ Global Compliance Solutions Group LLC/

On April 6, 2020 the U.S. Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) issued updated FAQs regarding US persons abroad and requests for authorization to provide defense services. The FAQs and published responses state:

  1. Q: “If I request authorization for defense services that describe my current employment, do I need to cease the activities that constitute defense services until I receive authorization from DDTC?”

    A: “An applicant may proceed with the described activities on a provisional basis unless otherwise notified by DDTC.  U.S. persons who believe they may have been furnishing defense services without authorization and request authorization for current or future defense services may disclose their activities as part of their request for authorization in lieu of submitting a separate voluntary disclosure to DTCC. Such disclosures will be treated as voluntary disclosures pursuant to ITAR § 127.12 and should contain the information requested in § 127.12(c)(2).”

  2. Q: “Will DDTC provide a “safe harbor” period for US persons who request authorization for defense services they are currently performing without a license?”

    A: “DDTC encourages regulated persons to obtain all required authorizations for their activities, given the U.S. national security and foreign policy reasons for which defense services are regulated. U.S. persons who believe they may have been furnishing defense services without authorization, and request authorization for current or future defense services, may disclose their activities in conjunction with their request for authorization. Such disclosures will be treated as voluntary disclosures pursuant to ITAR § 127.12 and should contain the information requested in § 127.12(c)(2). To the extent that DDTC learns of the prior unauthorized furnishing of defense services in a disclosure, the facts will be reviewed subject to the totality of the facts and circumstances. DTCC will consider the non-adoption of the 2015 proposed rule, as well as the recent promulgation of this FAQ guidance and good faith efforts by an applicant to comply with the ITAR.”

Contact us to learn more.

E   info@globalcompliancesg.com

W www.globalcompliancesg.com/contact

References

  1. DDTC - Licensing FAQs 1 - 04/06/2020.

  2. DDTC - Licensing FAQs 2 - 04/06/2020.

US Treasury, State, and Commerce - Monetary Penalty Increases Last Two Years

/ Global Compliance Solutions Group LLC/

The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (the "Act") required federal agencies to adjust their maximum allowable civil monetary penalties ("CMPs") annually.  The initial "catch-up" adjustments occurred in 2016; and now the first annual adjustments have been finalized by the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security ("BIS"), the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC"), and the US Department of State's Directorate of Defense Trade Control ("DDTC").  The chart below provides a reference for the original, 2016 "catch-up", and 2017 annual adjustment penalty amounts.