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US puts five forwarders on banned list
[ March 2, 2012 // Chris ]Five freight forwarders who have performed significant work for the US Government and its contractors have been added to the Excluded Party List System (EPLS), debarring them from similar work in future. They are BAX Global, Kühne + Nagel, Panalpina (in Switzerland and New Jersey) and Schenker. The move follows a guilty plea to price-fixing charges by certain of these companies in September 2010 and agreement to pay $50.7 million in criminal fines to the US Government.
In a letter to its clients, international law firm King and Spalding said: “Moreover, because these forwarders often are used for shipments on defense contracts, the US Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, which is the agency that administers the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), issued guidance on 24 February stating that the forwarders are ineligible to participate in transactions requiring authorization under the ITAR without DDTC’s grant of a transaction exception. Transactions exceptions generally are granted only in cases where an exception is in the foreign policy or national security interests of the US.”
It added that companies who have agreements with these freight forwarders, or who may wish to contract with them in the future, should exercise “great care” to ensure compliance with US government restrictions on contracting with debarred entities.
Tags: BAX Global, forwarders, Freight, Kühne + Nagel, Logistics, Panalpina, Schenker, Shipping