Illinois Company and Two Foreign Affiliates
Settles Charges Relating to Illegal Exports

The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced that Morton International, Inc., of Chicago, Illinois, and its affiliates Morton International, S.A.S., located in Semoy, France, and Rohm and Haas Japan K.K., located in Tokyo, Japan, agreed to pay a
$647,500 civil penalty to settle charges in connection with the export and reexport of organo-inorganic compounds and the export of thiodiglycol in violation of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) charged that in 1999 Morton International, Inc. exported thiodiglycol on one occasion and attempted to export thiodiglycol on two other occasions to Mexico without the required licenses from the Commerce Department. The export of thiodiglycol is controlled for chemical and biological reasons.

BIS also charged that, on ten occasions between May 2000 and May 2001, Morton International, Inc. exported organo-inorganic compounds to Singapore and Taiwan without the required licenses from BIS. BIS further charged that, between October 1997 and September 2000, Morton International, S.A.S., committed 19 violations of the EAR by reexporting organo-inorganic compounds to Israel, Poland, and Tunisia without the required licenses. In addition, BIS charged that, between September 1997 and October 2000, Rohm and Haas Japan K.K., committed 117 violations of the EAR by reexporting organo-inorganic compounds to Taiwan and India without the required licenses. The export and reexport of organo-inorganic compounds is controlled for national security reasons. Morton International, Inc. voluntarily disclosed the violations relating to the shipments of organo-inorganic compounds to BIS and cooperated with the investigation.

While the Export Administration Act (EAA) is currently in lapse, six of these transactions involving items controlled for national security reasons occurred while the EAA was in effect. Under the EAA, such violations are subject to a maximum civil penalty of $120,000 for each violation.

Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Julie L. Myers stated, “As is evident from the settlement here, exporters run the risk of substantially higher penalties for violations committed when the EAA is in effect.” Assistant Secretary Myers also commended the efforts of Special Agent Juventino Martin, from BIS’s Chicago Field Office, for his work in this investigation.