Three shippers pay fines for U.S. export violations

Three shippers pay fines for U.S. export violations    The U.S. Commerce Department said ProChem (Proprietary) Ltd. of Gauteng, South Africa, has agreed to pay $1.54 million in civil penalties to settle charges that it made unauthorized shipments of U.S.-origin chemicals to end-users in South Africa.
   The chemicals, sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide, require Commerce Department licenses because of their possible use in chemical and biological weapons.
   According to the department, ProChem (formerly Protea Chemicals) allegedly violated U.S. export controls on 112 occasions between November 1999 and December 2003.
   Parker Hannifin Corp. of Cleveland agreed to pay $185,000 in civil penalties to settle Commerce Department charges pertaining to unlicensed exports of fluid control valves to Taiwan and China. The Commerce Department alleged that Parker violated the country’s export controls on 53 occasions between September 2000 and June 2002.
   Norman Fox & Co. in City of Commerce, Calif., agreed to pay a $42,000 civil penalty to settle charges that it made unlicensed shipments of chemicals to Hong Kong. The department alleged that 12 violations occurred between 2000 and 2002.
   The Commerce Department said both Parker and Norman Fox voluntarily self-disclosed the violations and cooperated fully with the investigations. The department said voluntary self disclosures are considered “great weight” mitigating factors in the settlement of administrative cases.