Section 8(c) of the Clean Diamond Trade Act (CDTA) authorizes U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enforce the laws and regulations governing exports of rough diamonds. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also has enforcement authority pursuant to section 5(a) of the CDTA, Executive Order 13312, and Rough Diamonds Control Regulations (31 CFR part 592). CBP, ICE, and OFAC are authorized to enforce provisions of the CDTA providing the following civil and criminal penalties:

(a) Civil penalties. A civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 may be imposed on any person who violates, or attempts to violate, any order or regulation issued under the Act.

(b) Criminal penalties. For the willful violation or attempted violation of any license, order, or regulation issued under the Act, a fine not to exceed $50,000, shall be imposed upon conviction or:

(1) If a natural person, imprisoned for not more than ten years, or both;

(2) If an officer, director, or agent of any corporation, who willfully participates in such violation, imprisoned for not more than ten years, or both.

(a) Criminal penalties—(1) Failure to file; submission of false or misleading information. Any person, including USPPIs, authorized agents or carriers, who knowingly fails to file or knowingly submits, directly or indirectly, to the U.S. Government, false or misleading export information through the AES, shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, for each violation.

(2) Furtherance of illegal activities. Any person, including USPPIs, authorized agents or carriers, who knowingly reports, directly or indirectly, to the U.S. Government any information through or otherwise uses the AES to further any illegal activity shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, for each violation.

(3) Forfeiture penalties. Any person who is convicted under this subpart shall, in addition to any other penalty, be subject to forfeiting to the United States:

(i) Any of that person's interest in, security of, claim against, or property or contractual rights of any kind in the goods or tangible items that were the subject of the violation.

(ii) Any of that person's interest in, security of, claim against, or property or contractual rights of any kind in tangible property that was used in the export or attempt to export that was the subject of the violation.

(iii) Any of that person's property constituting, or derived from, any proceeds obtained directly or indirectly as a result of this violation.

(4) Exemption. The criminal fines provided for in this subpart are exempt from the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 3571.

(b) Civil penalties—(1) Failure to file violations. A failure to file violation occurs if the government discovers that there is no AES record for an export transaction by the applicable period prescribed in § 30.4 of this part. Any AES record filed later than ten (10) calendar days after the due date will also be considered a failure to file regardless of whether the violation was or was not discovered by the government. A civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 may be imposed for a failure to file violation.

(2) Late filing violations. A late filing violation occurs when an AES record is filed after the applicable period prescribed in § 30.4 of this part. A civil penalty not to exceed $1,100 for each day of delinquency, but not more than $10,000 per violation, may be imposed for failure to file timely export information or reports in connection with the exportation or transportation of cargo. (See 19 CFR part 192)

(3) Filing false/misleading information, furtherance of illegal activities and penalties for other violations. A civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 per violation may be imposed for each violation of provisions of this part other than any violation encompassed by paragraph (b)(1) or (b)(2) of this section. Such penalty may be in addition to any other penalty imposed by law.

(4) Forfeiture penalties. In addition to any other civil penalties specified in this section, any property involved in a violation may be subject to forfeiture under applicable law.

(a) General. Whenever a civil penalty is sought for a violation of this part, the charged party is entitled to receive a formal complaint specifying the charges and, at his or her request, to contest the charges in a hearing before an administrative law judge. Any such hearing shall be conducted in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 556 and 557.

(b) Applicable law for delegated function. If, pursuant to 13 U.S.C. 306,the,the,remission,collection,and.

(c) Commencement of civil actions. If any person fails to pay a civil penalty imposed under this subpart, the Secretary may request the Attorney General to commence a civil action in an appropriate district court of the United States to recover the amount imposed (plus interest at currently prevailing rates from the date of the final order). No such action may be commenced more than five years after the date the order imposing the civil penalty becomes final. In such action, the validity, amount, and appropriateness of such penalty shall not be subject to review.

(d) Remission and mitigation. Any penalties imposed under § 30.71(b)(1) and (b)(2) may be remitted or mitigated, if:

(1) The penalties were incurred without willful negligence or fraud; or

(2) Other circumstances exist that justify a remission or mitigation.

(e) Deposit of payments in General Fund of the Treasury. Any amount paid in satisfaction of a civil penalty imposed under this subpart shall be deposited into the general fund of the Treasury and credited as miscellaneous receipts, other than a payment to remit a forfeiture which shall be deposited into the Treasury Forfeiture fund.

(a) Department of Commerce. The BIS's OEE may conduct investigations pursuant to this part. In conducting investigations, BIS may, to the extent necessary or appropriate to the enforcement of this part, exercise such authorities as are conferred upon BIS by other laws of the United States, subject, as appropriate, to policies and procedures approved by the Attorney General.

(b) Department of Homeland Security (DHS). ICE and CBP may enforce the provisions of this part and ICE, as assisted by CBP may conduct investigations under this part.

(a) General policy. The Census Bureau strongly encourages disclosure of any violation or suspected violation of the FTR. Voluntary self-disclosure is a mitigating factor in determining what administrative sanctions, if any, will be sought. The Secretary of Commerce has delegated all enforcement authority under 13 U.S.C. Chapter 9, to the BIS and the DHS.

(b) Limitations. (1) The provisions of this section apply only when information is provided to the Census Bureau for its review in determining whether to seek administrative action for violations of the FTR.

(2) The provisions of this section apply only when information is received by the Census Bureau for review prior to the time that the Census Bureau, or any other agency of the United States Government, has learned the same or substantially similar information from another source and has commenced an investigation or inquiry in connection with that information.

(3) While voluntary self-disclosure is a mitigating factor in determining what corrective actions will be required by the Census Bureau and/or whether the violation will be referred to the BIS to determine what administrative sanctions, if any, will be sought, it is a factor that is considered together with all other factors in a case. The weight given to voluntary self-disclosure is within the discretion of the Census Bureau and the BIS, and the mitigating effect of voluntary self-disclosure may be outweighed by aggravating factors. Voluntary self-disclosure does not prevent transactions from being referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal prosecution. In such a case, the BIS or the DHS would notify the DOJ of the voluntary self-disclosure, but the consideration of that factor is within the discretion of the DOJ.

(4) Any person, including USPPIs, authorized agents, or carriers, will not be deemed to have made a voluntary self-disclosure under this section unless the individual making the disclosure did so with the full knowledge and authorization of senior management.

(5) The provisions of this section do not, nor should they be relied on to, create, confer, or grant any rights, benefits, privileges, or protection enforceable at law or in equity by any person, business, or entity in any civil, criminal, administrative, or other matter.

(c) Information to be provided—(1) General. Any person disclosing information that constitutes a voluntary self-disclosure should, in the manner outlined below, if a violation is suspected or a violation is discovered, conduct a thorough review of all export transactions for the past five years where violations of the FTR are suspected and notify the Census Bureau as soon as possible.

(2) Initial notification. (i) The initial notification must be in writing and be sent to the address in paragraph (c)(5) of this section. The notification must include the name of the person making the disclosure and a brief description of the suspected violations. The notification should describe the general nature, circumstances, and extent of the violations. If the person making the disclosure subsequently completes the narrative account required by paragraph (c)(3) of this section, the disclosure will be deemed to have been made on the date of the initial notification for purposes of paragraph (b)(2) of this section.

(ii) Disclosure of suspected violations that involve export of items controlled, licensed, or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction by a department or agency of the federal government should be made to the appropriate federal department or agency.

(3) Narrative account. After the initial notification, a thorough review should be conducted of all export transactions where possible violations of the FTR are suspected. The Census Bureau recommends that the review cover a period of five years prior to the date of the initial notification. If the review goes back less than five years, there is a risk that violations may not be discovered that later could become the subject of an investigation. Any violations not voluntarily disclosed do not receive consideration under this section. However, the failure to make such disclosures will not be treated as a separate violation unless some other section of the FTR or other provision of law requires disclosure. Upon completion of the review, the Census Bureau should be furnished with a narrative account that sufficiently describes the suspected violations so that their nature and gravity can be assessed. The narrative account should also describe the nature of the review conducted and measures that may have been taken to minimize the likelihood that violations will occur in the future. The narrative account should include:

(i) The kind of violation involved, for example, failure to file EEI, failure to correct fatal errors, failure to file timely corrections;

(ii) Describe all data required to be reported under the FTR that was either not reported or reported incorrectly;

(iii) An explanation of when and how the violations occurred;

(iv) The complete identities and addresses of all individuals and organizations, whether foreign or domestic, involved in the activities giving rise to the violations;

(v) A description of any mitigating circumstances;

(vi) Corrective measures taken; and

(vii) ITNs of the missed and/or corrected shipments.

(4) Electronic export information. Report all data required under the FTR that was not reported. Report corrections for all data reported incorrectly. All reporting of unreported data or corrections to previously reported data shall be made through the AES.

(5) Where to make voluntary self-disclosures. The information constituting a Voluntary Self-Disclosure or any other correspondence pertaining to a Voluntary Self-Disclosure may be submitted to the U.S. Census Bureau, Branch Chief, Trade Regulations Branch by methods permitted by the Census Bureau. See www.census.gov/trade for more details.

(d) Action by the Census Bureau. After the Census Bureau has been provided with the required narrative, it will promptly notify CBP, ICE, and the OEE of the voluntary disclosure, acknowledge the disclosure by letter, provide the person making the disclosure with a point of contact, and take whatever additional action, including further investigation, it deems appropriate. As quickly as the facts and circumstances of a given case permit, the Census Bureau may take any of the following actions:

(1) Inform the person or company making the voluntary self-disclosure of the action to be taken.

(2) Issue a warning letter or letter setting forth corrective measures required.

(3) Refer the matter, if necessary, to the OEE for the appropriate action.