Princeton Pays $54,000 to Resolve Alleged Export Control Violations
More than three dozen times during a five-year period, Princeton University researchers sent animal pathogens to foreign investigators without obtaining the export control licenses, a potential violation of regulations that resulted in a penalty of $54,000 and requirements to conduct audits. In an announcement, the Bureau of Industry and Security, part of the Department of Commerce, said Princeton “voluntarily self-disclosed potential violations of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to BIS, and cooperated with the investigation that was conducted by the New York Field Office of BIS’s Office of Export Enforcement.” In addition to the payment, Princeton “agreed to complete one external audit and one internal audit of its export compliance program.”
According to BIS, the settlement resolves “allegations that on 37 occasions between November of 2013 and March of 2018, Princeton University engaged in conduct prohibited by the EAR when it exported various strains and recombinants of animal pathogens from the United States to various overseas research institutions without the required export licenses.” The penalty amount is double the value of the pathogens, which BIS said was $27,000. It is not clear when Princeton discovered and reported the alleged violations.
