BIS Planning Review of Administrative Enforcement, Self-Disclosure Program, Says Axelrod
The Bureau of Industry and Security will look for ways to improve its administrative enforcement efforts and the voluntary self-disclosure program in the coming year, Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew Axelrod said while speaking to the Silverado Policy Accelerator on Feb. 24. Under the administrative enforcement review, BIS will consider how often it uses its no admit/no deny resolutions to help deterrence and accountability, he said. The bureau will also review how it "calibrates" penalties and will explore additional or expanded penalties for items that harm national security even if the transaction value is low. It will also review how often, and in what cases, administrative resolutions should continue in parallel with criminal resolutions by DOJ.
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The agency will also consider ways to streamline self-disclosure for companies that self-report "minor technical violations" and for the small subset that present "serious deficiencies," he said. Axelrod said there were 400 voluntary self-disclosures in 2021 and, of those, only three had administrative sanctions and none went criminal. BIS is exploring ways in which to focus its resources on cases that require more comprehensive follow-up investigation and go deeper on some of those cases than BIS has traditionally done.