As the stalwart protector, bastion of authority, and intermediary between the corporation and regulatory authorities, legal counsel has an increasingly difficult role. Increased scrutiny and regulatory oversight, new regulations, business practices, technologies, partners, contracts, international expansion, who can say they already have expertise in all the finer points asked of today's in-house counsel?
Advising on and defending against unacceptable levels of risk at the pace required by today's business velocity requires agility and unfettered access to facts and resources. Decisions are needed within hours or days, not weeks or months. And they need to be re-evaluated at increasingly close intervals as products and strategies evolve to meet competitive pressures.
Helping create a clear governance and accountability framework, developing policies and processes, providing training, evaluating programs, standards and procedures, ensuring compliance with contractual obligations and legal and regulatory requirements, communicating and advising on potential risks and reducing exposure — all require keeping abreast of changes in the regulatory environment, industry practices and business needs.
Importing and Exporting
Counsel providing guidance on international trade matters have additional responsibilities: serving as the legal contact to Import/FTA/Country of Origin/Export teams, helping business groups navigate laws, regulations and administrative processes related to import and export controls — embargoes, sanctions, anti-boycott, anti-money laundering, anti-dumping, classification, valuation, origin, maquiladora, free trade agreements, focused assessments, marking, voluntary disclosures ...
And matters become more complex when there are global subsidiaries, necessitating global trade compliance strategies, M&A due diligence, technology and process integration.
Controlled Goods Environments
For legal counsel working in a controlled goods environments, there are added requirements: developing and recommending policies and positions on controlled goods import and export requirements, assisting in the implementation of controlled goods import and export compliance programs for TAAs and MLAs, TCPs, restricted/denied party screening, license determination and management of licensed activities, commodity jurisdiction and classification, internal audits, preparing and reviewing various legal instruments, ensuring maintenance of adequate audit trails and compliance with the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR),
Export Administration Regulations (EAR), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Atomic Energy Act (AEA), USA Patriot Act, Trading With The Enemy Act, and related statutes.
How we can Help
Visual Compliance provides robust, cost-effective automation solutions and regulatory content to manage all aspects of foreign trade and export control compliance. With over 30 years of experience helping companies easily gain control and visibility over their compliance issues and processes, our solutions are relied on by more than 4,000 companies at home, and abroad to:
- Conduct Restricted and Excluded Party and Specially Designated Nationals screening
- Research current Federal Export Control Regulations and Sanctions
- Determine ECCN classifications and USML categories, and exemption, exception, exclusion or licensing requirements
- Manage licenses and licensed activities
- Access documentation and audit trails for internal and government due diligence protection
- Manage preferential trade agreements and HTS classifications across locations and countries
- Generate, distribute, file and manage import and export documentation
For more information, call toll-free 1-877-328-7866 and talk to one of our foreign trade compliance consultants. They'll help you analyze your requirements, evaluate your options, and provide focused demonstrations.
Or send an email.
