Creating an effective export compliance plan mitigates the risk that accompanies new opportunities. To be successful in new markets, everyone you work with, including manufacturers, distributors, and service providers, needs to understand the importance of staying compliant.
How you describe your business will impact your compliance plan.
Include company policies that express your intentions of meeting all U.S. government export requirements.
Numerically identify standard operating procedures that refer to your company policies for their authority and scope.
List detailed, daily work instructions, including checklists and examples of completed export documentation.
References your pyramid.
Explains how an effective compliance plan affects companywide performance.
Shows past decisions dealing with different types of exports.
Discusses how past decisions have provided a consistent, positive customer experience.
Is continually revised by all team members through an approval process.
Include an initial training process and a mandatory annual review.
Keep records for each training session conducted and include the attendees.
Provide training for your vendors and distributors where appropriate.
Use two types of audits to ensure your entire team is following your export compliance plan.
Identify standard operating procedures and examine any problem areas.
Use an outside service provider to perform an annual external audit to catch anything that may be overlooked during the internal audit.
Take a look at our general suggestions for developing a compliance plan.