New York, Virginia shippers settle U.S. export violation charges

New York, Virginia shippers settle U.S. export violation charges    Yarde Metals of Happauge, N.Y., has agreed to pay a $10,000 civil penalty to the U.S. Commerce Department for a violation of the country’s export control regulations.
   The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) charged that on or about May 5, 2003, Yarde exported aluminum plate from the United States to the Vikram Sarahbhai Space Center in India without the required license. At the time of the export, Vikram, a subsidiary of the Indian Space Organization, was on the Entity List due to missile proliferation concerns. The agency’s Entity List is a compilation of end users that have presented an unacceptable risk of diversion to developing weapons of mass destruction.
   Carl Zeiss Optical of Chester, Va., also agreed to pay a $10,000 civil penalty to settle charges that it illegally exported optical sighting devices from the United States to Canada without the required export license.
   BIS charged that on 10 occasions between June 7, 2002, and April 2003, Carl Zeiss Optical illegally exported 10 rifle scopes from the United States to Canada. BIS controls optical sighting devices in line with the Organization of American States Firearms Convention.