DDTC publishes new ICP guidelines
The Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (‘DDTC’) has issued new Compliance Program Guidelines (‘CPG’) which are ‘intended to provide an overview of an effective compliance program and an introduction to defense trade controls, including information on the Arms Export Control Act (‘AECA’) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (‘ITAR’).
‘More specifically’, it says, ‘the new CPG contain information on the key elements of an effective ITAR Compliance Program (ICP) and how to design and implement an ICP for the defense industry and universities that manufacture, export, broker, or temporarily import defense articles and defense services described on the United States Munitions List (USML).’
In guidelines on the creation of a ‘culture of compliance’ within industry, it says,
‘To help generate support and buy-in among employees, management should incorporate compliance into employee performance plans and evaluations. Employees should be expected to think about and recommend ways to improve compliance and raise concerns when they see a possible problem, and their performance plans and evaluations should account for those expectations.’
And, it says, ‘management should recognize and reward employees who speak up, even if the problem reported resulted in no specific confirmed violation, but perhaps lead to improving the organization’s compliance procedures [and] communicate to employees that export control violations will not be tolerated and may result in disciplinary action against the employee, regardless of the employee’s position, title, or performance.’
The document also notes that an organisation’s structure should ‘clearly identify the following areas of authority: ‘
- Who in management is responsible for overseeing the ICP?
- Who within the ICP is the point of contact regarding export compliance questions?
- Who within the ICP and/or business functions is responsible for investigating and identifying the root causes of ITAR violations?
- Who within the ICP and/or business functions is responsible for overseeing and implementing corrective actions?
- Who within the ICP is responsible for drafting, finalizing, and submitting export-related documents to DDTC?
- Who within the ICP is responsible for sending other communications regarding export compliance matters to DDTC, if necessary?
- Who is responsible for legal interpretation and guidance on internal export compliance matters?’
Further reading on ICPs at www.exportcompliancemanager.com
