{"id":151,"date":"2016-03-11T15:52:52","date_gmt":"2016-03-11T15:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/exportcompliancesolutions.com\/blog\/?p=151"},"modified":"2016-03-11T15:52:52","modified_gmt":"2016-03-11T15:52:52","slug":"export-compliance-in-11-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exportcompliancesolutions.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/11\/export-compliance-in-11-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Export Compliance in 11 Words"},"content":{"rendered":"

EXPORT COMPLIANCE IN 11 WORDS:
\nIntroducing a Twelve-Part Blog Series on Export Compliance Essentials<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a newcomer to the world of U.S. export controls and you\u2019ve just been charged with setting up an export compliance program for your firm, we wouldn\u2019t at all be surprised to hear that you\u2019re feeling a little overwhelmed right now. Does \u201cbewitched, bothered, and bewildered\u201d describe your state of mind as you struggle to make sense of the export laws and regulations and sort out which ones apply to your company? Are you wondering where to start?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re finding export compliance to be a daunting task, rest assured that you\u2019re not alone. The ever-changing complexities of U.S. export laws and regulations, licensing requirements, economic and trade sanctions, arms embargoes, and other legal and regulatory constraints present unique challenges to U.S. exporters as they strive to meet their business objectives while remaining compliant. Actually, taking on those challenges successfully without the proper training and support is more than just daunting, it\u2019s impossible.<\/p>\n

At Export Compliance Solutions<\/a>, we\u2019ve gained quite a lot of experience over the years helping our customers \u2014 small and medium-sized businesses and organizations of all kinds, and some of the big guys, too \u2014 identify, analyze, resolve and mitigate the regulatory issues and risks of selling in the international marketplace. Based on that experience, we\u2019ve prepared a brand-new blog series for you, in which we share the most important lessons we\u2019ve learned, condensed and summed up in 11 key words. The twelve posts (including this one) that you\u2019ll be reading over the next several weeks will by no means cover everything there is to know, nor will they answer all your questions about export controls. What this series will<\/em> do for you is lay a solid groundwork for understanding how to protect your business against export violations. \u201cExport Compliance in 11 Words\u201d will provide you with a sound starting-point for formulating an intelligent and practicable export compliance plan tailored to the needs and realities of your business.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an overview of what\u2019s ahead:<\/p>\n

ANALYZE<\/strong> \u2013 Because every business is different, there is no such thing as a generic, all-purpose, one-size-fits-all corporate export compliance program. Processes and procedures that are critical components of another company\u2019s compliance strategy may be impracticable in scope and inappropriate in subject matter for yours. A program that doesn\u2019t fit your needs will waste time, money, and personnel, and may even weaken your competitive advantage, while providing little or no protection against violations, fines, and penalties in the areas where your business is actually most vulnerable. But you can\u2019t design a program that effectively addresses the real risks your company faces until you are confident you know what those risks are. That\u2019s why conducting a strategic risk analysis of your business from an export-compliance standpoint \u2014 preferably alongside an outside expert \u2014 is an indispensable prerequisite to everything else. The company\u2019s past, present, and future export customers, products, and services; the likelihood of certain kinds of violations; the controls and personnel already in place; the current regulatory environment and trends; the potential severity of fines and other consequences \u2014 all these issues and others need to be discussed in detail, analyzed, and evaluated before written policies and procedures are formulated and put in place.<\/p>\n

EDUCATE<\/strong> \u2013 The oversight and management of corporate export compliance in today\u2019s world requires substantial and ongoing professional training, including — but by no means limited to — a thorough familiarity with all the applicable U.S. Government laws and regulations. Once you\u2019ve acquired the necessary training and knowledge yourself, your number one priority as a compliance officer should be training others in your company. The goals of this training should be (1) instilling and maintaining a high level of export compliance awareness company-wide and (2) ensuring that management and employees at all levels understand their export control responsibilities and have the appropriate competencies and skills to carry them out effectively, so that exports are made in compliance with both U.S. laws and regulations and the company\u2019s best interests.<\/p>\n

CLASSIFY<\/strong> \u2013 Export compliance personnel must know their company\u2019s products and services, clearly identify, flag, and classify those categories of products, services, or technical data which are subject to export controls, and fully understand which regulatory requirements apply to each category. They must also know their company\u2019s customers and be able to pinpoint risks and vulnerabilities from a regulatory standpoint.<\/p>\n

SECURE<\/strong> \u2013 Responsible information-handling practices are critical to export compliance. You are responsible to protect your company\u2019s controlled technical data and information against access by unauthorized persons, both on the ground and in the cloud, not only inside your facilities, but wherever your business and its workforce interfaces with the global marketplace. Your employees need to know that if they\u2019re sharing technical data, such as plans and blueprints, even within the U.S., or if they\u2019re allowing the visual inspection of ITAR-controlled articles by foreign nationals, they\u2019re exporting technology; and if they\u2019re doing these without proper authorization, they\u2019re committing an export violation.<\/p>\n

SCREEN<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cScreening\u201d is the process of checking and cross-referencing the parties involved in an export transaction against the many, continually updated lists of restricted or denied parties maintained by various governments and government agencies. If you\u2019re a frequent or regular exporter (or are actively seeking to market your goods and services more widely overseas) and you aren\u2019t routinely using some kind of Restricted-Party Screening (RPS) software to screen your customers, consignees, suppliers, employees, etc., you\u2019re a fool. But you\u2019re an even bigger fool if you are relying on RPS software alone to flag high-risk transactions and detect potential compliance problems. Even with the necessary screening software in place and properly configured to your company\u2019s needs, the dictum remains true: your company\u2019s employees are your ultimate line of defense \u2014 which is why their training and motivation is absolutely critical to compliance.<\/p>\n

DOCUMENT<\/strong> \u2013 Certain specific recordkeeping for export transactions is mandated by the EAR, the ITAR, and the various OFAC Sanctions programs. But an effective corporate compliance program ought to be tracking and documenting much more than that bare minimum. Not only do transaction and licensing records need to be complete, accurate, and secure, they also need to be readily accessible in case of a compliance audit or other investigation.<\/p>\n

COMMUNICATE<\/strong> \u2013 Proper communications are essential to export compliance. Critical compliance communications include the timely filing of the multiple reports mandated by U.S. export laws and regulations, enforced by the regulatory agencies, as well as having procedures in place for making prompt voluntary disclosures when violations or possible violations are discovered. It also means developing a communications strategy for keeping management, employees, suppliers, and customers in the loop about regulatory changes and all other compliance-related concerns and issues, as needed.<\/p>\n

MONITOR<\/strong> \u2013 Even the most carefully formulated policies and procedures are meaningless if actual, real-life compliance with them is not checked and verified, and if instances of possible or actual non-compliance are not reported and promptly addressed. Moreover, if the monitoring of internal compliance processes is only sporadic, occasional, or random at best, it is not likely to be effective, and consequently the risk of violations occurring will be high. But reliable, continuous monitoring and control of processes and procedures necessitates building and maintaining an appropriate infrastructure.<\/p>\n

ASSESS<\/strong> \u2013 A corporate export compliance program is properly focused on identifying and mitigating risks and vulnerabilities. To evaluate the effectiveness of your compliance efforts, frequent internal assessments and audits of processes and procedures are indispensable. So are periodic independent outside reviews of your overall compliance policies and program. It is critically important that the findings and recommendations of these reviews be reported to top management. Short-term and long-term follow-up on the implementation of corrective measures and program improvements should be an integral part of the review process.<\/p>\n

ADAPT<\/strong> \u2013 Regulatory, technological, and business environments are rapidly and continually changing, and those changes are unavoidably impacting your company. \u201cInnovate or die\u201d is a common adage in the business world, and, while it may sound a bit melodramatic, it expresses a simple truth. If your company is surviving \u2014 and, we hope, thriving! \u2014 it\u2019s safe to say you\u2019ve made some significant changes over the last couple of years, and that\u2019s all to the good. But if your export compliance program isn\u2019t changing and adapting along with the rest of your business, your company\u2019s survival may be at risk.<\/p>\n

OWN<\/strong> \u2013 An effective export compliance program requires buy-in, visible involvement, and credible commitment on the part of top management \u2014 communicated, among other ways, by the allocation of adequate personnel and resources to the compliance function. When this sort of management commitment is perceived, when employees see that management is taking compliance seriously, company-wide engagement and employee motivation are likely to follow. Your compliance standards and policies, as well as the rationale behind them, should not only be spelled out explicitly in writing, but also well understood and acknowledged by each employee. Individual export compliance responsibilities need to be clearly articulated and included in job descriptions to ensure personal accountability and ownership. Moreover, your employees need to know that rules and procedures will be strictly enforced. The predictable result of not clearly assigning ownership of a process is a failed implementation of the process.<\/p>\n

It is often said that without a top-down, pervasive corporate culture of compliance, no export compliance program will ultimately succeed. That may sound trite, and perhaps a bit corny, but it is nonetheless true, and its importance should not be underestimated. The human element remains the key to compliance. If you\u2019re training your employees so they know how<\/em> to do the right thing and motivating them so they want<\/em> to do it, you\u2019re on the way to creating a risk-aware corporate culture of compliance\u2014the necessary foundation for any effective export compliance program.<\/p>\n

Sound like information you need to know? If you\u2019re new to export compliance responsibilities, or if you\u2019re already dealing with U.S. export controls and would appreciate an update and review of the basics, you won\u2019t want to miss a single one of the posts in this series. Sign up today for a free subscription to <\/em>\u201c<\/strong>An EAR . . . to the ITAR<\/strong><\/a>\u201d and we\u2019ll notify you of each new installment during the weeks ahead. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Export Compliance in 11 Words<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all","category-compliance"],"yoast_head":"\nExport Compliance in 11 Words - Export Compliance Solutions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A 12-part blog series from Export Compliance Solutions (ECS) sums up the basic requirements of a corporate export compliance program with 11 key words\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/exportcompliancesolutions.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/11\/export-compliance-in-11-words\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Export Compliance in 11 Words - 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