Here’s hopin’ you your Monday went well…While you slept …. .Indian missile technology advances – and US officials suspect recent launches may be from stolen technology. We reported on the Cirrus export bust recently. I predicted some political fallout –but I haven’t heard a peep about the implications. I think the Paris Hilton crises drowned this story out.  -PZ From ArmsControlToday.com – Tests, Arrests Draw Attention to Indian Missiles 

Alex Bollfrass  

Indian missile engineers are wasting little time celebrating their first successful intermediate-range ballistic missile test. With their confidence boosted, missile program managers have offered to develop an ICBM and announced upcoming missile defense tests. This push for ballistic missile advances coincides with federal government charges that a U.S. company has been violating U.S. export control laws. Cirrus Electronics stands accused of transferring dual-use technology to Indian government laboratories.

 Parthasarathy Sudarshan, founder of Cirrus Electronics, was arrested March 23 together with his soleU.S. employee for supplying Indian weapons laboratories with electronic equipment suited for ballistic missiles and fighter aircraft. The indictment cites an Indian government official in the United States and charges two Cirrus employees abroad.The defendants are charged with violating several laws that regulate what can be exported from the United States and who may receive sensitive technology. Most military exports require a government license.  The Department of Justice says Cirrus, knowing its Indian clients were unlikely to be approved, circumvented the licensing process by first shipping the items to Singapore. The company also provided forged end-user certificates to its suppliers.

 The indictment’s first nine counts allege Cirrus illicitly aided India’s missile program. The U.S. Department of Commerce maintains a list of companies and individuals ineligible to receive military and dual-use technology without a permit. Two Cirrus customers, Vikram Sarabhai Space Center and Bharat Dynamics Ltd., are on the list because of ballistic missile development work. They are owned and operated by the Indian government. Both received static random access memory chips and other electronic equipment for use in missile guidance and firing systems.  The second series of charges involve combat aircraft technology. Military-use technology exports must be approved by the Department of State. Cirrus did not seek such approval for 500 microprocessors. They were shipped via Singapore to the Aeronautical Development Establishment, a government outfit, for use in the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.  Circumstances surrounding this charge are diplomatically awkward. Indian government officials are directly implicated in the trafficking charges, despite past assurances to respect U.S. export law. An unnamed Indian government official is believed to have accompanied Sudarshan on a visit to the microchips’ producer in February 2004. Seven months after the trip, India’s foreign secretary assured the State Department that facilities affiliated with the Indian government would never “obtain or use U.S.-origin licensable items in contravention of U.S. export control laws and regulations.” Moreover, Sudarshan and his employees “were in frequent consultation with Indian government representatives and were constantly acting at their direction and behest,” according to the Justice Department. The indictment calls Sudarshan an illegal agent of the Indian government.  Previous circumventions of U.S. export laws have benefited Indian government weapons laboratories. Between February 2003 and April 2006, the Commerce Department investigated more than 60 possible violations involving Indian consignees. This violation appears to be the first facilitated by an Indian official in the United States. India reportedly relies on gray-market procurement for some of its weapons programs, particularly uranium-enrichment technology. Its position outside of international regimes regulating weapons technology trade, such as the Missile Technology Control Regime, restricts its ability to obtain technology and materials from the international market. The revelations also came at an inopportune moment as the United States and India attempt to move forward with a nuclear cooperation agreement. Read the rest of the story at Arms Control Today.   

Posted on May 7th, 2007 by keeton
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From Canada.com

 Chinese Spys In Canada

MONTREAL – Bombardier wasn’t commenting Wednesday on a report that foreign technicians were caught stealing secrets at one of its Montreal plants last year.

The newspaper report said that Chinese technicians were especially interested in computer files at one of the jet-assembly plants and that Bombardier tried to keep the incident under wraps.

Isabelle Rondeau, a Bombardier spokeswoman, refused to comment on the story and referred calls to the company’s aerospace division.

Bombardier Aerospace did not return repeated calls.

The Journal de Montreal also reported that Bombardier negotiators found out they were being spied on during a recent trip to China.

On Monday the head of CSIS, Jim Judd, told a Senate committee on national security that China tops a list of roughly 15 countries regularly conducting intelligence operations within Canada.

China has repeatedly denied spying on Canada.

Bombardier’s technological know-how and military products make it a target of choice, says David Harris, director of the International Terrorist Intelligence Program at Insignis Strategic Research Inc.

“On so many levels a place like Bombardier is something China would be drooling over,” he said.

This is a case of “all the resources of a major state and a growing super-power being brought to bear on nearly defenseless commercial interests.”

Such “competitive espionage” enables countries such as China to catch up technologically without investing the money and effort into research and development and to create instant competitors able to steal Canadian business or jobs, Harris added.

He says Canada is an easy target because it lacks the “security mindset” to protect itself from espionage. Harris said this is ironic because the Canadian International Development Agency still regularly allocates money to China.

In addition to using agents under diplomatic cover, China can also force the hand of Canadians of Chinese background by putting pressure on their families back home, he said.

Airline analysts say China is an important part of Bombardier’s future plans of lining up customers and partners for its C-Series regional jet.

They believe China could be a major financial backer and also a key parts supplier.

Canada expressed concern about Chinese economic espionage soon after last year’s change of government.

“There are some well-documented problems with the Chinese government’s operations in this country,” Prime minister Stephen Harper said in April 2006.

Posted on May 4th, 2007 by keeton
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From the International Trade Law News website. Canada‘s The Globe and Mail newspaper reported that the U.S. and Canada have reached an agreement on how to handle the recent controversy involving dual citizens who work on military projects in Canada - which are subject to the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The paper reports that:

The Harper government has come to terms with Washington on a deal exempting Department of National Defence employees from U.S. restrictions that prevent dual nationals from 17 countries from having access to data related to U.S. military technology.

Posted on May 3rd, 2007 by keeton
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“An International Forum for Aviation and Space Leaders.” 

Aviation and Space Leaders will join a roundtable discussion  on “Impediments to Globalization.”

The panel will discuss the stumbling blocks to international cooperation in the aerospace industry, offer opinions on whether the International Traffic in Arms Regulations prevent global partnerships and consider how ITAR and other regulatory processes impact programs here and abroad. May 14-15 in Crystal City in Arlington,Virginia. More info at PRinside.com

Posted on May 1st, 2007 by keeton
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Sheesh! Not much happening in the Export Compliance world today, folks. Once again, I need to borrow the brow-sweat of  our comrades at ExportLawBlog, who offer a tray of ExportLaw.Blog hors devours:

• Update on the Chi Mak case
• Farming in Cuba
• Indian spy case
• More bombs for Israel

Read here, then weep.

Posted on May 1st, 2007 by keeton
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In light of all the bickering and controversy about ITAR restrictions  barring foreign nationals in Canada from working on US military technology contracts – Americans cannot help but chuckle when Canada discovers Chinese spys among them…

“He quoted a CSIS official as saying that Chinese spies stole $1 billion worth of technological secrets every month.”

Read the story on TheStar.com 

Posted on April 30th, 2007 by keeton
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 Which Piper to Pay? LogicaCMG plc Gets Caught Between US and EU Legal Tug-O-War

LogicaCMG, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of U.K.-based LogicaCMG plc, pleaded guilty last Wednesday to violating the U.S. embargo on Cuba. By doing so, the company is violating European Union Laws that prevent it from complying with the US embargo on Cuba. Go figure. Check it out at ExportLawBlog.com.

Nuke Plant Contractor Accused of Taking Plans to Iran 

This hits way too close to home, for me at least – Palo Verde is a nuke plant about 50 miles west of Phoenix. A contractor is accused of taking the plant’s schematics to Iran. He was arrested at the LA airport for violating the trade embargo. Hell of an entrepreneur, though, no? Read it up at the Arizona Republic’s azcentral.com website. 

Talkin’ ITAR– The Basics Relayed At MTC  

Dean Young, facility security officer of Celestica Aerospace Technologies Corp., in his presentation, “ITAR and the Subcontractor,” at the 2007 Military Technologies Conference (MTC; www.miltechconference.com) in Boston shared information with attendees as to how to reduce risks with dealing with ITAR and how to ensure a company’s compliance with International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR).   A good basic refresher for y’all from Military and Electronics Aerospace Online. And.. since it’s Monday – a slow news day in the Export Reg world and  – nearly a full-moon, here’s a report on another ITAR seminar from Australia.  

-Zerbe

Posted on April 30th, 2007 by keeton
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The Bureau of Industry and Security (”BIS”) recently released a settlement agreement in which Robert Abreu, the Senior Director of Strategic Sales for Supermicro Computers, agreed to pay $60,000 to settle charges arising from illegal exports of computer motherboards to Iran. The motherboards were shipped by Supermicro and Abreu to a distributor in the UAE which then re-exported the motherboards to Iran. 

Read all about it on ExportLawBlog.com

Posted on April 26th, 2007 by keeton
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China’s Space Odyssey: What the Antisatellite Test Reveals About Decision-Making in Beijing
Bates Gill and Martin KleiberFrom Foreign Affairs, May/June 2007

Summary: China’s recent antisatellite test, which the military conducted while leaving civilian authorities mostly in the dark, raises a disturbing question: Will Beijing’s stovepiped bureaucracies prevent China from becoming a reliable global partner?

Read the article at ForeignAffairs.org

Posted on April 26th, 2007 by keeton
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ExportLawBlog cautions the Reuters News interpretation of the new Export Enforcement Act of 2007. A good clarification. Read it here.

Posted on April 25th, 2007 by keeton
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