San Jose Company Settles Charges of Unlicensed Exports

The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced that New Focus, Inc. (New Focus) of San Jose, California agreed to a $200,000 civil penalty to settle charges that it violated the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) charged that between 1997 and 2001, New Focus failed to obtain the required export licenses for shipments of amplifiers to the Czech Republic, Singapore, and Chile. BIS also charged that, from 2000 to 2002, New Focus failed to obtain export licenses under the “deemed export provisions of the EAR for two Iranian nationals and one Chinese national who, in the course of their employment in the United States, were exposed to manufacturing technology controlled by the EAR. The “deemed export” provision of the EAR states that an export license is required to release technology to a foreign national in the United States if a license would be required to export that technology to his/her country of citizenship.

New Focus voluntarily self-disclosed their deemed export violations and fully cooperated with the investigation.

Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Julie L. Myers stated: “The settlement in this case sends the strong message that violations of the ‘deemed export’ provisions will be vigorously pursued.” Ms. Myers also commended Special Agent Michael Zaborowski of BIS’s San Jose Field Office for his efforts in the investigation.