BIOLOGICAL TOXINS SHIPPER PAYS $1.76 MILLION FOR EXPORT VIOLATIONS

BIOLOGICAL TOXINS SHIPPER PAYS $1.76 MILLION FOR EXPORT VIOLATIONS    Sigma-Aldrich Corp. and two of its subsidiaries have agreed to pay the U.S. government $1.76 million to settle charges involving illegal exports of biological toxins to Europe and Asia.
   The penalty is one of the largest imposed on a shipper of biological toxins and one of the largest penalties ever paid to the Commerce Department for export violations.
   The Commerce Department alleged that St. Louis-based Sigma-Aldrich had acquired a company in 1997 that made the unauthorized biological toxin shipments. The company continued to make the illegal shipments for more than a year after the acquisition.
   The penalty was mitigated because the evidence available to the Commerce Department indicated that none of the shipments were used to manufacture biological weapons.
   “These cases set the important precedent that when acquiring another firm, a company should scrutinize the export control practices of the acquired company in order to avoid the risk of incurring substantial liability along with the assets of the company,” said Michael J. Garcia, assistant secretary of commerce for export enforcement. “In this case, the acquiring company not only failed to discover the prior unlicensed exports, they allowed them to continue for more than 'one year after the acquisition.”
   In a 15-page opinion, an administrative law judge said companies could be held liable for export control violations that have been committed by firms that they acquire.
   “This settlement, and the administrative law judge ruling upon which it is based, make two things clear,” said Kenneth I. Juster, under secretary of commerce for industry and security. “First, this Commerce Department will vigorously enforce our export control laws to prevent the spread of biological toxins and other substances that can be used for weapons purposes. Second, corporations will be held accountable for violations of U.S. export control laws committed by companies that they acquire.”
   A copy of the administrative law judge’s opinion is available on line at https://www.bis.doc.gov.