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It's Only Common Sense: More on ITAR

Editor's Note: To listen to Dan's weekly column, as you've always done in the past, click here. For the written transcript, keep reading...I have good news and bad news and they're both the same. The good news is, my column Drop a Dime on ITAR Violators got a very good response last week. In fact, most who contacted me were not only supportive, but wanted to know who to call to turn in ITAR violators. The bad news? Well, it’s only bad news if you happen to be an ITAR violator. We're putting you on notice--there's no loyalty among thieves and we will turn you in.

From now on, if you know someone playing fast and loose with ITAR regulations, visit www.pmddtc.state.gov or call the DDTC Response team at 202-663-1282 or the enforcement division at 202-632-2785 for help. You must give your name and contact information because this is pretty serious business and a pretty serious accusation, but, if you are sure of yourself and can prove what you know, it's worth it.

I would urge you to do this not only for yourself and your community, but also for the industry as well. It’s time we stop this insanity once and for all.

Cesar Reyna of Trade Consulting Services, a consulting company specializing in ITAR compliance, contacted me last week. Reyna is an ITAR expert and can help with all of your ITAR requirements. His web site is www.TCSGroup-us.com and his phone number is 817-845-8282. If you have any questions at all about ITAR, Reyna is your man. Call him.ITAR is much more stringent than most realize. You must be sure you're aware of all regulations and that they are followed implicitly:

• Did you know that if you're working on programs with ITAR requirements you are not supposed to have the files on your computer if you travel to another country?
• Did you know that only American citizens can perform ITAR work?
• Did you know that to be fully compliant with ITAR you must be sure that anyone who walks into your facility is an American citizen?
• Did you know that you must employ a sign in system and badges if you're ITAR compliant?
• Did you know you are supposed to have locks on the doors to your production area to be fully ITAR compliant?
• Did you know that if someone in your company violates ITAR regulation that individual, and your company, will be held responsible and you both can be fined and sentenced?

Did you know these things? I have to admit I did not. We live at a time when someone can completely reverse engineer a circuit board assembly right down to re-creating the schematic. Is that scary, or what?

We live in an age where, whether we like it or not, we have enemies dying to get their hands on our defense, aerospace, and security electronics. We live in an age where even the smallest and weakest of our enemies can bring us to our knees via Internet terrorism by getting their hands on our banking systems, our security systems, and our identities. The least we can do is be careful; the very least we can do is to protect the things we can protect.

I, for one, am not impressed with American companies that give away our secrets and put the country at severe risk for the sake of the almighty dollar. A board can be produced much cheaper in China--so what? Is that worth risking our country’s safety and security? Let’s not forget who the Chinese really are: At the end of the day, it's a communist country with the power to throw us out, close its borders, and keep sensitive information, secrets, ideas, and innovations.How long are we going to be so sloppy about this? How long are we going to stand by and watch companies give away our secrets and ideas to make a couple of bucks? Is this what we stand for?

Look it’s very simple. If you know someone violating ITAR regulations, just drop that dime and turn them in. It’s time we stop this once and for all. It’s only common sense.