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WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced today that five foreign subsidiaries of Thermon Manufacturing Company, a San Marcos, Texas-based firm, have agreed to pay a total of $176,000 in combined civil penalties to settle allegations that they participated in unlicensed exports and reexports of heat tracing equipment to Iran, Syria, Libya and listed entities in India, in violation of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). ?Thermon Manufacturing voluntarily disclosed the violations to BIS.

"Thermon's foreign subsidiaries placed orders intended for and ultimately shipped to sanctioned countries and listed entities," said Kevin Delli-Colli Acting Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement.? "A number of the violations occurred despite the fact that Thermon U.S. told the subsidiaries that such actions were prohibited."

BIS alleged that between October 2002 and June 2006, the five subsidiaries--Thermon Europe B.V., Thermon Far East Ltd., Thermon Heat Tracers Pvt. Ltd. (based in India), Thermon Korea Ltd., and Thermon (U.K.) Ltd.—committed a total of 33 violations by re-exporting or causing the export of EAR99 heat tracing equipment manufactured in the United States by Thermon Manufacturing, without the required BIS license or, for shipments to Iran, a License from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.?

The Thermon subsidiaries did not inform Thermon Manufacturing of the ultimate destinations for the items and had been informed by Thermon Manufacturing in February 2005 that “products manufactured by Thermon US may not be sold to countries on the US trade sanctions list,” including specifically Iran, Syria and Libya.? BIS alleged that the affiliates acted with knowledge of those violations involving shipments to sanctioned countries that occurred after this warning.

Acting Assistant Secretary Delli-Colli praised the BIS Dallas Field Office for its outstanding work on this case.