South African Company Charged with EAR Violations, Agrees to $40,000 in Penalties
A South African aviation company agreed to pay at least $40,000 to settle Bureau of Industry and Security charges that the company violated the Export Administration Regulations by illegally reexporting aircraft to Sudan without the necessary licenses, BIS reported May 23. In its export violation order, BIS said Solenta Aviation -- located in Johannesburg -- reexported items from South Africa to Sudan without the required Commerce Department license between October 2007 and May 2007. Solenta exported the items, including a Beechcraft 1900 aircraft, pursuant to a lease agreement with Blue Bird Aviation, a company based in Khartoum, Sudan. The Beechcraft 1900 is controlled for anti-terrorism reasons, BIS said. In Sudan, Solenta’s aircraft operated under the livery and logo of Blue Bird Aviation.
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Solenta agreed to pay $70,000 in civil penalties for the violation. More than half, $40,000, will go to the Commerce Department in four installments: the first is due May 31, then August 15, November 14 and Feb. 14, 2014. Payment of the remaining $30,000 will be suspended for two years, and if Solenta commits no further EAR violations in that time, will be waived altogether, BIS said. If Solenta is late on the payments or does not pay the full amount, it will be forced to pay the entire civil penalty and could lose export privileges.