Nov
9
Guess the ECCN!
Posted by Clif Burns at 9:16 pm on November 9, 2006
Category: BIS
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported today on a speech given by Kenneth Mouradian, the Director of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Export Assistance office in Orlando, and this surprising advice that he gave to potential exporters in Florida:
“I don’t pretend to be an attorney and neither should you,” he said. Businesses can obtain legal advice through the District Export Council, which has volunteer attorneys, and the U.S. Embassy or the Florida Bar Association, which have lists of attorneys specializing in international trade. . . .
“Do you need a license to export a pencil to Canada?” Mouradian asked. “The correct answer is maybe.”
So, what ECCN (or USML Category) did Mr. Mouradian have in mind for pencils? Perhaps he thinks that they might be “specially designed implements of torture” covered by ECCN 0A983. Other ideas welcome in the comments section.
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3 Comments:
Actually, if one accepts the Government’s questionable contention, made in the FMI case in Boston, that “specially designed” means “capable of,” a pencil might well constitute a specially designed instrument of torture . . . .
Perhaps he had the EPCI provisions (restricted end uses and end users)in mind. “Maybe” is the correct answer.
“Maybe” is, of course, correct in the sense that it is also the correct answer to the question “Might I get bitten by a cobra in Dupont Circle.”
If he had the EPCI in mind, I wonder what would be the red flag that would lead an exporter of pencils to suspect that they were being used for nuclear proliferation. (Do people still use pencils to design bombs?)
Granted he could also have been thinking of the Denied Parties list which lists about a dozen Canadians or the SDN list in case Charles Taylor was hiding out in Toronto. (The Entity List doesn’t have any entities in Canada). But, the question about a license for exporting pencils to Canada is misleading. You don’t need a license for pencils to Canada. You might need a license for pencils to certain people in Canada.
Of course, to the extent that the question prompts exporters to call their lawyer before each export, I am in favor of that! 😉
