Kiwi firm breaks ban
Hamilton-based Pacific Aerospace has been fined $74,000 for breaking United Nations sanctions by exporting aircraft parts to North Korea.
The aircraft manufacturer sent $6700 worth of warranty parts to the hermit state in 2016.
In a reserved judgment, dated May 29, on sentencing heard at the Manukau District Court on March 16, Judge John Bergseng declined to issue the maximum penalty, describing the breach of sanctions as ‘‘reckless’’.
Pacific Aerospace is thought to be the first company in the world to be prosecuted for such actions, with the Crown citing only one largely incomparable example from abroad.
Bergseng fined Pacific Aerospace $74,805 for three charges of indirectly exporting a specified good to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and one charge of making an erroneous export entry.
‘‘[Pacific Aerospace’s] breach of the Sanctions Regulations was best described as reckless. [Pacific Aerospace] was aware of the Sanctions Regulations but had chosen not to fully inform itself of its detail.’’
Customs laid the charges after a Pacific Aerospace P-750 XSTOL plane was spotted at the Wonsan Air Festival in North Korea in September 2016.
The direct or indirect supply of luxury goods to North Korea, including aircraft and related parts, is a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1718.
Under New Zealand law, a company can be fined up to $100,000 for breaching a UNmandated ban and fined up to $5000 for making an erroneous declaration under the Customs and Excise Act.
Pacific Aerospace provided aircraft parts – a banned luxury good under UN sanctions – to repair the aircraft in North Korea in three instances.
The parts were a flap actuator used in take-off and landing, two cockpit indicators that display propeller speed and a fuel ejector.
Pacific Aerospace now advises MFAT of all foreign aircraft sales, regardless of the country being exported to, and has appointed a sanctions officer tasked with preventing future breaches.