By: John Black
I don’t know if my first observation should focus on successor liability or the fact that this is another 2B350 violation. So I will start with a few facts.
Wesco Industrial Products, Inc. of Lansdale, PA agreed to pay a $50,000 in a settlement agreement with the Bureau of Industry and Security resulting from its voluntary disclosure of some relatively harmless exports of ECCN 2B350 valves. Wesco is the surviving entity of several mergers that occurred in 2008 and is the successor to Neptune Chemical Pump Co., Inc. The violations all occurred before the merger.
The violations involved these exports of 2B350 relief valves:
- An export of ten valves to Singapore
- An export of two valves to Mexico
- An export of four valves to Hong Kong
It is reasonable to assume the small $50,000 fine is due to the fact that the company did a voluntary disclosure, the violations were due to ignorance, and that the valves ended up in harmless locations.
The lessons are:
- If you acquire or merge with a company that is has past violations, the resulting entity now owns the violations.
- Companies who manufacture chemical processing such as valves and pumps still don’t seem to have caught on to the fact that their seemingly harmless products may require export licenses. There has been a relatively steady stream of violations involving 2B350 valves and pumps. It makes me feel like taking out an ad in some valve and pump trade journal to shout out: Don’t let this happen to you.
