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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 21 M AY 2 , 2 0 1 6 webinars and some freight forwarders, can help beginning exporters as well as those who are already exporting but feel they need to update their skills due to changing market conditions and regulations. "People are doing multiple tasks in their jobs," she notes, so boning up on the details of compliance helps. After several runs through exporting products, compa- nies can even handle simple exports on their own. While not all freight forwarders help shippers assure they have all the needed paperwork, L'Heureux says OCEANAIR does, and agencies like MITC can help with referrals to those who do. But even L'Heureux looks to outside consul- tants to handle complex shipments. OCEANAIR signed a joint venture with Mohawk Global Trade Advisors of North Syracuse, N.Y., an international trade consultancy for that purpose. Kristin Morneau, who works out of New Hampshire for Mohawk Global, says international trading is becoming more active and complex as the world becomes more global, even for smaller com- panies in Maine. " e chances of getting fi nes and penalties are going up with stronger export enforce- ment," Morneau says. "Organizations have to ana- lyze the risks of venturing into a particular market." And while the smallest fi ne for a mistake, intended or not, can be as low as $1,000, companies with repeated violations risk up to $ 1 million in fi nes and/or imprisonment, L'Heureux says. "Just as bad can be the damage to a company's reputation." Violations and penalty letters from the government can be found on the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security website. One trade violation of signifi cance was Maine Biological Labs of Winslow being cited for unlicensed export of avian vaccine containing Newcastle virus to Syria. MBL provided two shipping documents indicat- ing "that the goods were not of Israeli origin." According to the bureau's documentation, the lab also failed to report the receipt of the buyer's shipping instruction, which supported an unsanctioned foreign boycott. In 2005, two former employees of the lab and a con- sultant were sentenced to two years' probation; fi ve oth- ers were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from nine months to 12 months and one day. e former employees were also fi ned $5,000 to $30,000. MBL was slapped with a criminal fi ne of $500,000 in 2005. e lab is still operating, but under new manage- ment, and is a division of the German fi rm Lohmann Animal Health Gmbh. Overall, L'Heureux says some trade violations are purposeful, but others are made in the excitement of a company going international and blindly trusting unknown customers or agents that they would other- wise vet in detail at home. Potential pitfalls are everywhere One thing Morneau, Allocca and other experts stress to clients is that exporting cannot be taken for granted. It can be taken away for certain violations. Allocca says the wisest policy is to write business export plans and follow the laws, regulations and best practices to keep out of trouble. "World-class companies to me are proactive," he says. " ey come to training before there's a prob- lem," rather than proceeding and hoping they are doing everything right on their own. Potential pit- falls are everywhere, for example, dealing with 220 countries with 18,000 harmonized shipping codes, each with their own regulations and assuring con- tracts are in order along with all other paperwork. e aim of advice or seminars is to mitigate the risk of making a misstep, he says. "People put the cart before the horse," Allocca says. " is is something companies of all sizes can take on." But he emphasizes that "exporting is a privilege and not a right, and it can be revoked." L V, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached a t @ . a n d @ LV SP ONSORED BY Meet the 2016 Mainebiz Business Leaders of the Year Family Wealth Management Partners UBS Financial Services Inc. Tickets are $45 per person Danielle Ripich PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND Rodney McCrum PRESIDENT AND COO, PINELAND FARMS POTATO CO., INC. Joshua Davis CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, GELATO FIASCO For more information visit www.mainebiz.biz/BLOY Portland Country Club 11 Foreside Road, Falmouth Thursday, May 5 5:00–7:00 pm FOLLOW US @MBEVENTS #MBBLOY16 N O T E : Small- to mid-sized businesses are those with 500 employees or fewer S O U R C E : Maine International Trade Center Companies of all sizes are exporting goods 2,183 Maine businesses exported in 2012 85% of those were small- to mid-sized

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