Last month, Amber Road broadcasted the webinar, You KNOW Your Customer: But What about ALL of the Parties in Between You? Our presenters, Steve Swanson, Director at Amber Road, and Steve Keighley, Solutions Consultant at Amber Road, received numerous questions throughout the webinar. Unfortunately, they did not have time to address them all during the live broadcast. We have compiled their answers into a Q&A document - here is a preview:

As companies begin to expand and increase their exports, their risk profile increases exponentially. Supply chains are dynamic, so the number of contacts your organization interacts with changes constantly. If you are not actively screening your customers and ALL of the parties in between, you could already be at export compliance risk. Would you be willing to risk paying high fines, jeopardizing your company's reputation, or even your personal freedom because of your organization's current screening processes?

Negotiations resumed the first week of September in Brussels over Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU). Since the last round of talks in July, the United Kingdom (UK) has published a series of position papers on various Brexit issues, including the future customs cooperation with the EU (Open for Business: Customs at the Forefront of the UK’s New Special Partnership with the EU). There is also talk of a transition for the immediate period after Brexit. Real chances of discussing these issues are not dependent on Great Britain alone, but on what transpires at an EU October summit authorizing the start of trade negotiations.

The second round of the NAFTA Modernization negotiations concluded on September 5th in Mexico City. Although progress was declared by the three parties, they have chosen to postpone discussions of major sticking points. The second round of negotiations included tabling two dozen drafts for a modernized NAFTA agreement.

Chief U.S. negotiator and US Trade Representative Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, concluded the second round on a conciliatory note. In his closing statement, Lighthizer indicated that the United States, Mexico, and Canada “found mutual agreement on many important issues.”

The first round of negotiation meetings of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) 2.0 were held in Washington D.C. on August 16-20, 2017. The negotiating parties convened to modernize the NAFTA agreement (implemented in 1994) at the request of the Trump Administration. Trump has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the Agreement, unless new terms (favorable to the U.S.) are struck.

Companies violate export compliance laws every day. Either an organization intentionally commits export violations and misleads the government, or simply lacks the proper export compliance program to alert them when in danger. 

Either way, these violations can ultimately lead to millions of dollars' worth of fines, loss of credibility, a tarnished reputation, imprisonment and loss of exportation privileges. Although a majority of companies would never intentionally commit export compliance violations - the latter happens all too often to unsuspecting organizations with an outdated, manual or weak export compliance solution.

To comply or not to comply, that is the question often faced by companies in regards to their export compliance programs. The amount of political upheaval over the past year will have significant impact on the world of global trade management for years to come. With more political upheaval, financial stress, and regulatory change on the horizon, is your company prepared for the changes to come?

Rome was not built in a day, and neither should your export management or compliance programs. To build these programs your company must develop, implement, adhere to operational policies, procedures, protocols, and guidelines for export compliance operations. Automating the export process with the use of the proper technologies will help provide the structure needed by your company.

As companies like yours look to increase revenues and expand into rewarding foreign markets, uncertainties and complexities await. These lurking uncertainties are the primary challenges and complications with export compliance. Rapid growth for your company often means entering new fertile markets, expanding production, and reaching new customers. All of these factors bring immeasurable pressure to your trade compliance team. 

Let’s face it, export compliance is tedious and complicated work. Government rules and regulations are constantly changing and trying to tackle this problem manually can be an overwhelming nightmare. Do not let export compliance control your valuable time. Take back your work day with processes and technologies designed to maximize your efficiencies and reduce export compliance risks.