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The U. S. Customs Service's Office of Investigations sent a representative-a special agent-to our office recently to discuss an old program. An old program with a renewed meaning.
The agent's objective was to acquaint our office with one of the government's major enforcement programs. It is called Project Shield America and has actually been around since 1981. Project Shield America is designed to stop the illegal movement of U. S. munitions and sensitive technology, both civil and military, to restricted destinations around the world that pose a threat to our nation and its allies' security (those "restricted destinations" include terrorist organizations). With all that's happening in the world today, Customs sees fit to reacquaint the export community with this highly effective program.
Customs is sending agents out to customs brokers and companies working within the export community to alert them to this ongoing problem. How bad is it? The monetary value of illegal exports is in the range of $10 million annually.
Although this figure is high, it is really secondary to the potential military value these products have. In the wrong hands they can jeopardize both our country's security and that of our allies.
The technology most in demand by these rogue organizations includes all modern technology used to manufacture microelectronics, computers, digital electronic components, and signal processing systems. Such organizations are also looking to pillage our technology for aircraft, missile, and tactical weapon delivery systems-not to mention the blueprints for constructing nuclear weapons and biological and chemical warfare agents.
So what is it that we can do to help the government stop the illegal exportation of highly sensitive technology?
Simply put, keep informed. Know who you are working with-from the employees you hire to the customers you do business with. Be certain that the specialists you work with are sufficiently knowledgeable and follow the appropriate screening and licensing procedures. Make sure your employees understand their legal obligation to keep sensitive information confidential. Finally, know your customers and their typical purchasing routines. I know this all sounds ominous, but by being alert to any peculiar behavior we can all assist in the suppression of these illegal exports.
Project Shield America was designed to protect the technical accomplishments resulting from good old American ingenuity and labor. We all have a job to protect what is "ours" by making certain no one steals those ideas and in turn gains an advantage over us (military or otherwise).
Bottom line: Should you see or hear of any unusual export activity, report it to
U.S. Customs as soon as possible.
Click here for more information on Project Shield America.
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