50 U.S.C. § 4820

(a) Authorities In order to enforce this subchapter, the Secretary, on behalf of the President, may exercise, in addition to relevant enforcement authorities of other Federal agencies, the authority to— (1) issue orders and guidelines; (2) require, inspect, and obtain books, records, and any other information from any person subject to the provisions of this subchapter; (3) administer oaths or affirmations and by subpoena require any person to appear and testify or to appear and produce books, records, and other writings, or both; (4) conduct investigations within the United States and outside the United States consistent with applicable law; (5) inspect, search, detain, seize, or issue temporary denial orders with respect to items, in any form, that are subject to controls under this subchapter, or conveyances on which it is believed that there are items that have been, are being, or are about to be exported, reexported, or in-country transferred in violation of this subchapter, or any regulations, order, license, or other authorization issued thereunder; (6) carry firearms; (7) conduct prelicense inspections and post-shipment verifications; and (8) execute warrants and make arrests. (b) Undercover investigations (1) In general Amounts made available to carry out this subchapter may be used by the Secretary to carry out undercover investigations that are necessary for detection and prosecution of violations of this subchapter, including to— (A) purchase property, buildings, and other facilities, and to lease space, within the United States, the District of Columbia, and the territories and possessions of the United States without regard to— (i) sections 1341 and 3324 of title 31; (ii) section 8141 of title 40 ; (iii) sections 3901, 6301(a) and (b)(1) to (3), and 6306 of title 41; and (iv) chapter 45 of title 41; and (B) establish or acquire proprietary corporations or business entities as part of the undercover operation and operate such corporations or business entities on a commercial basis, without regard to sections 9102 and 9103 of title 31. (2) Deposit of amounts in banks or other financial institutions Amounts made available to carry out this subchapter that are used to carry out undercover operations under paragraph (1) may be deposited in banks or other financial institutions without regard to the provisions of section 648 of title 18 and section 3302 of title 31 . (3) Offset of necessary and reasonable expenses Any proceeds from an undercover operation carried out under paragraph (1) may be used to offset necessary and reasonable expenses incurred in such undercover operation without regard to the provisions of section 3302 of title 31 . (4) Disposition of corporations and business entities If a corporation or business entity established or acquired as part of an undercover operation carried out under paragraph (1) with a net value of over $50,000 is to be liquidated, sold, or otherwise disposed of, the Secretary shall report the circumstances to the Comptroller General of the United States as much in advance of such disposition as the Secretary determines is practicable. The proceeds of the liquidation, sale, or other disposition, after obligations are met, shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. Any property or equipment purchased pursuant to paragraph (1) may be retained for subsequent use in undercover operations under this section. When such property or equipment is no longer needed, it shall be considered surplus and disposed of as surplus government property. (5) Deposit of proceeds As soon as the proceeds from an undercover operation carried out under paragraph (1), with respect to which an action is certified and carried out under this subsection, are no longer needed for the conduct of such operation, the proceeds or the balance of such proceeds remaining at the time shall be deposited into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. (c) Enforcement of subpoenas In the case of contumacy by, or refusal to obey a subpoena issued to, any person under subsection (a)(3), a district court of the United States, after notice to such person and a hearing, shall have jurisdiction to issue an order requiring such person to appear and give testimony or to appear and produce books, records, and other writings, regardless of format, that are the subject of the subpoena. Any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as a contempt thereof. (d) Best practice guidelines (1) In general The Secretary, in consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, should publish and update “best practices” guidelines to assist persons in developing and implementing, on a voluntary basis, effective export control programs in compliance with the regulations issued under this subchapter. (2) Export compliance program The implementation by a person of an effective export compliance program and a high quality overall export compliance effort by a person should ordinarily be given weight as mitigating factors in a civil penalty action against the person under this subchapter. (e) Reference to enforcement For purposes of this section, a reference to the enforcement of, or a violation of, this subchapter includes a reference to the enforcement or a violation of any regulation, order, license or other authorization issued pursuant to this subchapter. (f) Omitted (g) Immunity A person shall not be excused from complying with any requirements under this section because of the person’s privilege against self-incrimination, but the immunity provisions of section 6002 of title 18 shall apply with respect to any individual who specifically claims such privilege. (h) Confidentiality of information (1) Exemptions from disclosure (A) In general Information obtained under this subchapter may be withheld from disclosure only to the extent permitted by statute, except that information described in subparagraph (B) shall be withheld from public disclosure and shall not be subject to disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5 , unless the release of such information is determined by the Secretary to be in the national interest. (B) Information described Information described in this subparagraph is information submitted or obtained in connection with an application for a license or other authorization to export, reexport, or in-country transfer items or engage in other activities, a recordkeeping or reporting requirement, an enforcement activity, or other operations under this subchapter, including— (i) the license application, license, or other authorization itself; (ii) classification or advisory opinion requests, and the response thereto; (iii) license determinations, and information pertaining thereto; (iv) information or evidence obtained in the course of any investigation; and (v) information obtained or furnished in connection with any international agreement, treaty, or other obligation. (2) Information to the Congress and GAO (A) In general Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing the withholding of information from the Congress or from the Government Accountability Office. (B) Availability to the Congress (i) In general Any information obtained at any time under any provision of the Export Administration Act of 1979 ( 50 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.) (as in effect on the day before August 13, 2018 , and as continued in effect pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)), under the Export Administration Regulations, or under this subchapter, including any report or license application required under any such provision, shall be made available to a committee or subcommittee of Congress of appropriate jurisdiction, upon the request of the chairman or ranking minority member of such committee or subcommittee. (ii) Prohibition on further disclosure No such committee or subcommittee, or member thereof, may disclose any information made available under clause (i), that is submitted on a confidential basis unless the full committee determines that the withholding of that information is contrary to the national interest. (C) Availability to GAO (i) In general Information described in clause (i) of subparagraph (B) shall be subject to the limitations contained in section 716 of title 31 . (ii) Prohibition on further disclosure An officer or employee of the Government Accountability Office may not disclose, except to the Congress in accordance with this paragraph, any such information that is submitted on a confidential basis or from which any individual can be identified. (3) Information sharing (A) In general Any Federal official described in section 4814(a) of this title who obtains information that is relevant to the enforcement of this subchapter, including information pertaining to any investigation, shall furnish such information to each appropriate department, agency, or office with enforcement responsibilities under this section to the extent consistent with the protection of intelligence, counterintelligence, and law enforcement sources, methods, and activities. (B) Exceptions The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to information subject to the restrictions set forth in section 9 of title 13 , and return information, as defined in subsection (b) of section 6103 of title 26 , may be disclosed only as authorized by that section. (C) Exchange of information The President shall ensure that the heads of departments, agencies, and offices with enforcement authorities under this subchapter, consistent with protection of law enforcement and its sources and methods— (i) exchange any licensing and enforcement information with one another that is necessary to facilitate enforcement efforts under this section; and (ii) consult on a regular basis with one another and with the head of other departments, agencies, and offices that obtain information subject to this paragraph, in order to facilitate the exchange of such information. (D) Information sharing with Federal agencies Licensing or enforcement information obtained under this subchapter may be shared with departments, agencies, and offices that do not have enforcement authorities under this subchapter on a case-by-case basis. (i) Reporting requirements In the administration of this section, reporting requirements shall be designed to reduce the cost of reporting, recordkeeping, and documentation to the extent consistent with effective enforcement and compilation of useful trade statistics. Reporting, recordkeeping, and documentation requirements shall be periodically reviewed and revised in the light of developments in the field of information technology. (j) Civil forfeiture (1) In general Any property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, seized under subsection (a) by designated officers or employees shall be subject to forfeiture to the United States in accordance with applicable law. (2) Procedures Any seizure or forfeiture under this subsection shall be carried out in accordance with the procedures set forth in section 981 of title 18 . (k) Rule of construction Nothing in this subchapter 1 1 See References in Text note below. shall be construed to limit or otherwise affect the enforcement authorities of the Department of Homeland Security which may also complement those set forth herein.