BXA CALLS FORWARDERS ôEYES AND EARSö IN WAR ON TERRORISM
The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Export Administration wants freight forwarders to do their part to help the government stop certain exports from ending up in the hands of countries sponsoring terrorism or manufacturing weapons of mass destruction.
For years, BXA investigators and agents have relied on information from forwarders to break up illegal export scams. The agency is responsible for tracking so-called “dual-use” items, or materials used for both commercial and military purposes.
“You’re the eyes and ears,” said Mark Menefee, director of the Commerce Department’s Office of Export Enforcement, to executives of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of American in Hollywood, Fla., Tuesday. “We need your help.”
“You are positioned uniquely to bring information to our attention that we can work on as professionals to stop this illegal activity,” added Roy Gilfix, special agent for the Commerce Department’s Office of Export Enforcement to NCBFAA attendees. “You have a responsibility to exercise due diligence.”
A forwarder’s tip recently helped BXA investigators take down an elaborate export scheme in Richardson, Texas, which involved a company shipping unlicensed computer equipment to Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, Menefee said.
BXA officials also urged forwarders to become familiar with Commerce’s list of dual-use items that includes chemicals, such as triethanolamine, a shampoo and body lotion agent which is also used to make mustard gas, and high-tech equipment and components, such as integrated circuit boards and night vision goggles.
The agency assured forwarders that their information and tips would be kept confidential. Forwarders may also provide information to BXA anonymously through its Internet Web site: http//www.bxa.doc.gov, or through a telephone hotline number: (800) 424-2980.