Dave Bisney

The issue of bribery is covered in the IoE terms and conditions, but anti-bribery legislation is global and many developed countries have far reaching laws the expressly prohibit taking bribes. Bribery is a complex issue and of course it is simply a way of doing business in many countries – especially in third world countries. However, if you’re caught then expect no mercy from the local authorities, especially if they can make an example of you.

The role of customs control is to regulate and inspect shipments in order to guarantee that commercial exchanges between different countries proceed legally, that they comply with all tax and duty obligations and with all other requirements related to their entry or exit.

IMO is the name given to dangerous goods in maritime transport. It takes its name from the International Maritime Organisation, the body responsible for classifying these kinds of hazardous freight.

A DDTC license is the export authorization from the US State Department for specific hardware items or technical data controlled by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), referred to as a defense article, to be exported to a specific country.

It can also be used for a foreign person employee (FPE) of a company, which represents the technical data that can be exported to that individual, based upon his country of origin. Nevertheless, don’t forget that the ITAR also includes certain exemptions that allow you to export defense articles without a license.

There are no set time limits for export license approvals but normally an ITAR license will take about 60 days and an Agreement will require 90 days to be approved. Commerce and Treasury Department approvals should be expected to take approximately the same amount of time.