US drone company settles alleged Europe- and Canada-related ITAR breaches
Alleged breaches included ‘unauthorized exports of Shrike UAS to the United Kingdom’.
AeroVironment, a California-based manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (‘UAS’ or drones), has settled allegations that it breached the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (‘ITAR’) ‘in connection with unauthorized export of defense articles, to include technical data; failure to properly maintain records involving ITAR-controlled transactions; and violations of the provisos, terms, and conditions of export authorizations.’
The settlement is for US$ for $1 million, the Directorate of the Defense Trade Controls has said.
According to the charging letter, the alleged violations fell into ‘five general categories:
unauthorized exports of UAS to Canada and failure to obtain End Use Certifications for UAS and parts, components, and accessories exported to Canada;
unauthorized exports of technical data in the form of UAS user manuals to Australia, France, Canada, and Thailand;
unauthorized exports of Shrike UAS to the United Kingdom;
violations of the provisos, terms, and conditions of licenses and other approvals; and
failure to properly maintain records involving ITAR-controlled transactions.’
The charging letter noted that the conduct ‘was not localized to a specific facility, product line, sales territory, or authorization type.’
The fine is to be paid over two years, and says, AeroVironment, $500,000 ‘is suspended and can be credited against investments already made or to be made to enhance export controls.’
The company said it will ‘hire an outside Special Compliance Officer for a term of one year and conduct an external audit to assess and improve its compliance program during the Consent Agreement term.’
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