Export Compliance Questionnaire

By Catherine J. Petersen email | bio

If you are a participant in international trade as an exporter, it’s that time of year to take stock of how you manage your exports in relation to U.S. regulations, guidelines and documentation. To help you on your way towards this goal, here’s a 10-second quiz for you and your export management team to take right now:

Question	Score (No=0; Yes=1)	Export Compliance Questionnaire - 2005
1		Do you have the 2005 version of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule in your bookcase?
2		Do you have the 2005 version of the Export Administration Regulations in your bookcase?
3		Do you have a policy in place that ensures that you are screening your customers against the “bad guy lists” posted at the BIS website?
4		Are you following your customer screening policy by screening your customers against the “bad guy lists” as posted at www.bis.doc.gov?
5		Do you request appointments for all visitors to your firm and have them sign a register identifying who they are, the firm they work for and designate the country where they hold a passport?
6		Do you have a procedure in place if a representative from the FBI, Office of Export Enforcement, or Customs & Border Protection calls for an appointment?
7		Have you created a process that allows you to easily screen your products against the Export Administration Regulations’ Commerce Control List?
8		Have you begun using the Automated Export System (AES) for your export transactions as required? Have you ensured that your forwarder is using the system on your behalf by obtaining copies of the AES records that they’ve filed for you?
9		Do you have a record-retention policy that is in place for all export transactions, even those to Canada and Mexico?
10		Are your export procedures audited by your quality, export or management team annually?
TOTAL

If your score is:

These are the kinds of questions you could very well receive from representatives of a range of government agencies, including Customs & Border Protection, Office of Export Enforcement, Department of Treasury, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). These agencies are guided by the Export Administration Regulations and other enabling legislation to inquire into an exporter’s ability to know and control the delivery of the goods they have sold to customers in other countries.

For example, Project Shield America is an integral part of the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement strategy of preventing illegal exports to targeted foreign countries, terrorist groups and international criminal organizations. The program’s goal is to prevent trafficking in weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their components; obtaining and illegally exporting licensable commodities, technologies, conventional munitions, and firearms; exporting stolen property; and engaging in financial and other transactions that support these activities or that violate U.S. sanctions and embargoes.

(See the article, "U.S. Must Be Aware of 'Red Flags'", in the January 2005 issue of the Shipping Solutions News.)

These agencies use the information on the export documents you provide to your freight forwarders and on the Shipper’s Export Declaration (SED) or Automated Export System (AES) record to make the decision whether or not to visit you. In addition, they can easily cross-check your company’s name on your website. What does your website say about your products? Would the listing of products on your website provide the kind of detail that might make them interested in visiting your facility?

So, what about my firm? Could this really affect us? We don’t deal in arms or WMDs!

This may be true, but remember to look at your product from another vantage point. Is the plastic that you use to make parts possibly a part of the formula to make plastic explosives? Are the valves that you manufacture made with exotic metals or are they hardened in such a way that they are completely resistant to corrosion? Does the machinery that you sell have the capacity to mix chemicals as well as pie dough? You need to identify all the possible uses of your product.

The FBI is currently visiting firms who have “key products” of concern and providing information on the export regulations and the various lists of individuals and firms who are either prohibited or restricted in some way from purchasing U.S. goods for delivery or redelivery to someone outside of the U.S.

So, take a moment, gather your team together, review your procedures, identify the weaknesses that you may have in your organization, and then begin to fix those gaps that you have found to get to the score of “8 or more!” so you can consider yourselves Export Pros!

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SED Cannot Be Provided to Foreign Governments