Building Compliance Into Daily Business Operations
International trade compliance is most effective when incorporated into ordinary business operations rather than treated as a separate legal exercise. Importers, exporters, manufacturers, distributors, technology companies, and service providers must often manage overlapping obligations involving customs, export controls, sanctions, licensing, restricted parties, and recordkeeping.
Saluja Law, PLLC assists businesses in developing practical, risk-based compliance programs tailored to their products, markets, personnel, and international activities. Our objective is to help clients identify concerns early, establish workable internal controls, and respond appropriately when problems arise.
Risk-Based Compliance
There is no single compliance program suitable for every organization. An effective program should reflect the company's products, software, technology, services, countries of operation, transaction volume, customers, suppliers, intermediaries, and available resources. It should also consider tariff and export-control classifications, licensing requirements, sanctions exposure, and foreign-national access to controlled technology.
This assessment provides the foundation for determining where enhanced approvals, screening, training, monitoring, or legal review may be required. It also helps the company devote its resources to the areas presenting the greatest regulatory and commercial risk.
Import, Export, and Sanctions Controls
Under 19 U.S.C. § 1484, importers must exercise reasonable care when providing information necessary for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to determine the classification, value, and admissibility of merchandise. Although customs brokers provide valuable assistance, importers remain responsible for the accuracy of information submitted on their behalf.
Import procedures may address tariff classification, customs valuation, country of origin, product marking, free trade agreement claims, trade-remedy screening, broker oversight, entry review, and corrective filings. Controls should clearly identify who provides information to the broker, who reviews entries, and how discrepancies are investigated.
Companies exporting products, software, technology, or services require additional procedures for determining export jurisdiction, classification, licensing requirements, destinations, end users, and intended end uses. They must also consider whether foreign-national access to technology may constitute a deemed export.
Sanctions compliance should include screening of customers, beneficial owners, consignees, banks, freight forwarders, vessels, distributors, and other transaction participants when appropriate. Screening should not occur only once. Parties, ownership, destinations, and government lists may change during an ongoing relationship.
OFAC's Framework for Compliance Commitments identifies five essential components of a sanctions compliance program: management commitment, risk assessment, internal controls, testing and auditing, and training. These principles also provide a useful structure for broader trade compliance efforts.
Written Policies and Clear Responsibility
A compliance program should identify who is responsible for trade-related decisions, who may approve a transaction, and when legal or management review is required. Employees should understand when they have authority to proceed and when a shipment, payment, technology release, or other activity must be paused.
Written procedures may address classification, licensing, restricted-party screening, transaction approval, broker and freight-forwarder communications, recordkeeping, government inquiries, and corrective action. They should also provide a clear method for escalating warning signs, including unusual routing, inconsistent business information, unexplained third parties, prohibited end uses, or reluctance to provide ownership or end-user information.
Policies should reflect the company's actual practices. A written program that is not followed or does not match daily operations may provide little protection when the government examines the company's conduct.
Recordkeeping, Training, and Auditing
A company should be able to demonstrate how and why it reached its compliance decisions. Supporting records may include classifications, origin analyses, valuation calculations, licenses, screening results, end-use statements, shipping documents, broker instructions, internal approvals, and communications with government agencies.
Customs recordkeeping requirements appear in 19 C.F.R. Part 163, with many records generally subject to a five-year retention period under 19 C.F.R. § 163.4. Export-control records are governed by 15 C.F.R. Part 762, while sanctions-related requirements appear in 31 C.F.R. Part 501. Because applicable periods and required records vary, retention policies should be tailored to the company's activities.
Training should also reflect each employee's responsibilities. Personnel in sales, purchasing, shipping, finance, engineering, human resources, and information technology may encounter different compliance risks and should receive guidance relevant to their roles.
Periodic auditing can determine whether procedures are being followed and whether controls remain effective. Reviews may examine customs entries, classifications, licenses, screening records, technology-access controls, and broker activity. The compliance program should evolve as the company enters new markets, introduces products, changes suppliers, or hires foreign-national personnel.
Corrective Action and Voluntary Disclosures
When a potential violation is discovered, the company should preserve relevant records, determine the scope of the issue, stop any continuing conduct when appropriate, and implement corrective measures.
Depending upon the facts, a disclosure may be available under CBP's prior-disclosure regulation, the Bureau of Industry and Security's voluntary self-disclosure procedure, or applicable OFAC guidance. The decision to disclose should be made only after reviewing the conduct, governing law, potential exposure, and corrective steps.
Coordinating Trade Compliance and Immigration
Trade compliance may intersect directly with business immigration. Employers filing certain nonimmigrant worker petitions must make export-control certifications concerning the release of controlled technology or technical data to foreign-national employees. USCIS provides additional information concerning Part 6 of Form I-129.
Saluja Law's experience with international businesses and foreign-national professionals allows us to coordinate immigration planning with export-control classifications, licensing, sanctions, and technology-access requirements.
Practical Compliance for Global Business
A well-designed trade compliance program can reduce regulatory exposure, support consistent decision-making, and prevent costly disruption. Whether a company is beginning international operations or strengthening an established program, Saluja Law helps clients assess risks, develop procedures, train personnel, conduct internal reviews, and respond to potential violations.
We work to create controls that are legally sound, commercially practical, and appropriate for the organization's actual operations.