News & Updates

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the Department of Commerce (Department) has amended its antiboycott provisions set forth in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to reflect the August 16, 2020 issuance by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of Federal Decree-Law No. 4 of 2020, which formally ended the UAE’s participation in the Arab League Boycott of Israel. BIS’s action follows similar actions by the Departments of State and the Treasury.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is publishing this notification to the public concerning the transfer of jurisdiction of certain ``software'' and ``technology'' as a result of action by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacating a March 6, 2020 preliminary injunction by the district court in Washington v. U.S. Dep't of State,...

BOSTON – Two Malaysian nationals were sentenced today in federal court in Boston for conspiring to illegally export firearm parts from the United States to Hong Kong.

SAVANNAH, GA: An Italian company has entered a guilty plea in a scheme to evade United States national security laws.

GVA International Oil and Gas Services (GVA) pled guilty in U.S. District Court to violating the Export Control Reform Act, said David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The plea subjects the company to a sentence of up to five years’ probation, along with significant fines and financial restitution.

NEWARK, N.J. – An Edison, New Jersey man was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for conspiring to export, without a license, firearms, and other items subject to the export control list, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.

Gene Shilman, 63, a native of the Soviet Union, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Katharine S. Hayden to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and the Export Control Reform Act.

SAVANNAH, GA: An Atlanta man faces up to five years in prison after admitting he attempted to hide firearms in an overseas shipment of goods.

Shawn Sabi, 34, of Atlanta, pled guilty in U.S. District Court to an Information charging him with Submitting False or Misleading Export Information, said David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The plea subjects Sabi to a possible statutory sentence of up to five years in prison followed by two years of supervised release and a $10,000 fine. There is no parole in the federal system.

SAN ANTONIO – In San Antonio, a federal jury convicted Mehrdad Ansari, a 39-year-old Iranian citizen and a resident of the United Arab Emirates and Germany, for scheming to obtain military sensitive parts for Iran in violation of the Iranian Trade Embargo. These parts had dual-use military and civilian capability and could be used in such systems as nuclear weapons, missile guidance and development, secure tactical radio communications, offensive electronic warfare, military electronic countermeasures (radio jamming), and radar warning and surveillance systems.

WASHINGTON – Today, Kevin J. Kurland, Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export
Enforcement, Bureau of Industry & Security (BIS), announced an administrative settlement of
$307,922 with FLIR Systems, Inc., located in Wilsonville, OR. The settlement follows an
investigation by the Portland Resident Office, San Jose Field Office of BIS’s Office of Export
Enforcement (OEE), after a voluntary self-disclosure by FLIR involving an egregious violation
of the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”).

WASHINGTON – On April 29 2021, Kevin J. Kurland, Acting Assistant Secretary for Export
Enforcement, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce,
announced an administrative settlement of $3,290,000 with SAP SE (SAP), a multinational
software company based in Walldorf, Germany. SAP also agreed to complete three audits of its
export compliance program over a three year period. SAP voluntarily self-disclosed potential
violations of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to BIS, and cooperated with the

BOSTON – A Chinese national pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston in connection with illegally procuring and causing the illegal export of $100,000 worth of U.S. origin goods to Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU), a Chinese military university that is heavily involved in military research and works closely with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on the advancement of its military capabilities.