AMCHAM Members Joined Seminar on Strategic Trade Controls Hosted by the US Embassy in Bangkok

On September 2, 2022, at the Conrad Bangkok Hotel, 30 AMCHAM members joined a seminar on Thailand’s Strategic Trade Controls hosted by the US Export Control and Related Border Security Program (EXBS) of the US Embassy in Bangkok. The participants gathered to learn about overview of recent developments in Thailand’s and the US strategic trade controls, as well as the US sanction regime.

AMCHAM Vice President, Charles Blocker of IC Partner, opened the seminar by welcoming AMCHAM members; Tassos Coulaloglou, Regional Advisor of EXBS of the US Embassy; as well as the US Subject Matter Experts, namely Jay Nash of CRDF Global and Nash Global Trade Services, Michael Beck of TradeSecure LLC, and George Tan of Global Security Consulting Pte. Ltd.

The seminar provided key elements and rationale of the Thai Trade Control of Weapons of Mass Destruction (TCWMD) Act, which aims to control specific tangible and intangible goods and commodities called Dual-Use Items (DUIs). In addition, details on the updated regulations called Catch-All Control (CAC) Notification and the Internal Compliance Program (ICP) Notification were provided. On the US trade controls and sanctions, the experts explained comprehensively on the US regulations, especially on sanctions and export control risks managed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury and the US Department of Commerce, respectively. During the last session, AMCHAM members engaged in fruitful discussions related to the importance of due diligence and adoption of ICP as evidence of intentional compliance, which were useful for mitigating export risks and maintaining credibility.