Danger Zone: Tightening Export Controls

Export controls are a morass of overlapping jurisdictions dotted with strict liability and criminal landmines. Worse, criminal and civil penalties have been severely ratcheted up recently, and more appear on the horizon. An October 2004 article by George Prettyman and Gregory Wallace in this newsletter described the regulatory regime governing 'dual-use' products. But even since 2004, prosecution resources have swollen and priorities have shifted markedly. As part of its recently established National Security Division, the Department of Justice (DOJ) appointed a National Export Control Coordinator tasked with building the DOJ's capacity to investigate and prosecute export violations. Specifically, the Coordinator is to create greater synergy between the DOJ and other export enforcement and licensing agencies, oversee prosecutorial training for U.S. Attorneys, and monitor the progress of their export control prosecutions nationwide. For their part, U.S. Attorneys have increased funding and implemented new legal tools (including sending agents overseas or having them work 'undercover') to enable them to carry out their mandate in support of the Coordinator's work.