Rhode Island shipper settles U.S. antiboycott charges

Rhode Island shipper settles U.S. antiboycott charges    Hord Crystal Corp. of Pawtucket, R.I., agreed to pay a $12,500 civil penalty to the U.S. Commerce Department to settle charges that it violated the antiboycott provisions of the country’s export control rules.
   The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security alleged that on four occasions Hord, in connection with transactions involving sale and transfer of goods from the United States to Dubai, provided prohibited information about its business relationships with Israel in violation of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
   The company certified on shipping documents that the goods were “neither of Israeli origin nor do they contain Israeli materials, nor are being exported from Israel.” The agency alleged that Hord failed to report in a timely manner its receipt of a request from Dubai to provide this certification.
   The antiboycott provisions in the EAR prohibit U.S. persons from complying with certain requirements of unsanctioned overseas boycotts, including providing information about business relationships with or in Israel. In addition, the EAR requires that U.S. persons report their receipt of certain boycott request to the Commerce Department.