Arent Fox’s Michael Burton, a partner in the firm’s international trade practice, was interviewed by International Trade Law360 for a recent article on the Obama Administration’s announcement that two multi-agency centers created to enhance the federal government's management of its export control enforcement system have been officially launched.

The Export Enforcement Coordination Center and the Information Triage Unit, known as E2C2 and ITU, were established by executive order in November 2010 as part of President Obama's Export Control Reform Initiative and opened last week to streamline both the enforcement of export control laws and the sharing of intelligence information among various government agencies.

“The coordination effort is a largely administrative attempt to make the government's enforcement actions more consistent and to enhance national security by focusing on export controls,” according to Law360, which also notes:

The housing of the E2C2 within the Department of Homeland Security is a strong hint that the interagency coordination will result in increased enforcement cases, sharing of resources and intelligence across agencies and larger and more frequent fines for companies that fail to comply with export requirements, according to Michael L. Burton, a partner in Arent Fox LLP's international trade practice group. …

"Having six different agencies with overlapping enforcement authority not talking to each other is certainly not the right way to run the railroad, but having a lot of law enforcement officials looking at cases is likely to result in more enforcement actions," Burton said. "Hopefully, they bring more enforcement actions against the real wrongdoers and less against the companies making honest mistakes, but unfortunately, that's often not what really happens."

The White House noted in a fact sheet that the opening of E2C2 and ITU are significant steps in formalizing the Obama Administration's long-standing focus on improving the nation's export control system, citing an increase in recent enforcement actions and Congress' passage of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act.

"Industry should be aware of this development and understand that 10 years ago, the likelihood of someone having an export compliance error come to light was less likely than it is now," Burton said. "I would tell prospective clients: Redouble your efforts, make sure you're compliant, because the likelihood of more cases being brought with more significant penalties is even higher in light of this announcement."

To read the article in its entirety, please click here.