Export Management Compliance Program (EMCP)

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with export regulations. It seems like every week something new or different is coming out.  How does a company prevent “brain-drain” as employees move up or move on? How does a world class company stay ahead? By being proactive rather than reactive.

It’s not just about “penalty avoidance” it’s about turning compliance into a sales opportunity to differentiate yourself from others who don’t have an effective written compliance program.   Take Free Trade Agreements (FTA’s) as an example.  Most companies participate in NAFTA. Which is just (1) one of (14) fourteen FTA’s available to lower your clients duty and therefore landed cost to buy your products.  Most companies just wait for an order and then try and see if their products or eligible (or worst yet, just fill out a certificate saying it is eligible without determining if your product actual qualifies).  Imagine you looked at it now before your next order, to see if any or all of your products were eligible for any of the (14) fourteen FTA’s.  Then you promoted that on your website as a sales opportunity? Our products are eligible for the following FTA’s… FTA’s are just one small chapter out of about (30) thirty that you should prepare for before the next order.

How about creating efficiencies and saving money on compliance programs.  Imagine you started checking the (6) six required denied parties list’s manually.  You then realized it is more effective to purchase a screening software program that checks your database for both domestic and international clients each night. Then it tells you each morning if there were any matches found. This would free up employees who now have to manually check these lists prior to every domestic and international order. In some cases they are checking multiple times on one order.

What about those competitors who get audited and received a temporary denial order? How do they service their international customers?  Will their customer’s wait for them?  Who will the clients go to get the product?  A company like yours. A company who can actually deliver a reliable and uninterrupted international supply chain because you wrote your export compliance procedures rather than waited until something bad happened.

The best way to be proactive and manage all of this information is to write down how an export flows through your company from start to finish.  An EMCP-Export Management Compliance Program is an all-encompassing customized, written system that guides your company to be in full compliance on every export. It is not a generic list of set procedures that are the same in every company. It is customized to your company, employees, products and destinations.  It describes how a product goes through YOUR company from quote to shipping.

Generally an EMCP can be broken down into at least (3) three elements, administrative, order processing, and screening.  A critical part of an EMCP is the creation of export controls within your company.  They provide the checks and safeguards at key steps in the order processing system. These checks ensure that the right questions are being asked, at the right time, to comply with all US export controls.

The (6) six main elements of an effective EMCP are as follows:
1)    Management Commitment
2)    Compliance polices & Operating Procedures
3)    Classification
4)    Order Processing
5)    Screening
6)    Accountability

Did you know that the Bureau of Industry and Security (the agency who implements and enforces the Export Administration Regulations) gives companies an incentive to write an EMCP.  They say that it is given “great weight” as a mitigating factor if you have an effective written export procedure in place prior to a violation.  At their discretion, they will also start any export penalties at half of the maximum and go down to zero if you have effective written export procedures in place prior to a violation.  A company could have the best procedures in place, but if they aren’t followed then anything can happen. Lastly, in many cases the Bureau of Industry and Security will require a company to write an EMCP after a violation and then audit those procedures. Why wait until you’re required to write one? Why not write one now at your timing and pace?   

Be sure to either take training on how to write an EMCP or work with a knowledgeable individual who can help you write yours.  Don’t wait for something to happen be proactive and start writing yours today! Please contact www.AlloccaEnterprises.com if you would like to learn more about getting your EMCP written.

Mike Allocca began his career in 1996 while starting in operations at a freight forwarding company in Albany, NY. After obtaining his bachelors in business administration, he quickly worked his way up over 10 years from internal operations to vice-president of sales.

Michael Allocca, President – Allocca Enterprises

In 2006 Mike started his own consulting company under Allocca Enterprises Inc. He has conducted hundreds of on-site and public training seminars across the United States and the globe. He works on a daily basis with importers and exporters conducting compliance audits, classifications and implementing written export & import procedures.

He is a NASBITE certified business professional.  He has recently been appointed to the District Export Council (DEC) in Columbia, SC for a 4-year term. This is through the U.S. commercial service a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce.   He stays updated on export/import regulations by attending and/or hosting programs with the U.S. Department of Commerce, US Customs & Border Protection, US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Industry and Security, NAFTA – office of Intra American Affairs, TSA and Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.

Tel: 803.684.8012   Fax: 803.684.8015

Email: mallocca@alloccaenterprises.com     www.alloccaenterprises.com