Voluntary Disclose in the United States

Disclose in General: Historical Definition

To disclose an offense, is not to state it or confess to it; but to make the offense known for the first time. (…). To “disclose a defense upon the merits,” means not merely to say there is a defense, but to show what the nature of it is; (…); opening out and letting the judge see whether there really is a defense upon the merits. (…).

The obligation to disclose arises in various ways. Where the parties to a contract stand in some pre-existing relationship to one another of a fiduciary character, full disclosure is required. Fry Specif. Perf. § 706. The obligation may arise from an antecedent wrong done by the one party to the other. Fry Specif. Perf. § 707. Sometimes the obligation to disclose arises from the character of the contract itself, where its nature demands a full disclosure of all material facts; such as contracts for marine insurance and partnership. In such cases silence may be fraud. Fry Specif. Perf, § 708. In the case of a contract for the sale of a chattel having a latent defect, there exists an obligation to disclose the same. Fry Specif. Perf. § 708. There are obligations to disclosure which arise from the contract itself; such as the duty of the vendor of land to honestly disclose his title. Sometimes the obligation to disclose arises from the course of the negotiations, and where an incomplete or imperfect disclosure has been made, a full disclosure is necessary, as an imperfect statement may be a perfect untruth. Fry Specif. Perf. §§ 709714. [1]

Voluntary Self-Disclosure (VSD)

A voluntary self-disclosure is a narrative account with supporting documentation that describes violations or suspected violations of the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR). A VSD reflects due diligence in detecting, and correcting potential violation(s) when required information was not reported or when incorrect information was provided that violates the Foreign Trade Regulations.

Voluntary self-disclosures must be submitted in writing, on company letterhead, and addressed to the Chief, International Trade Management Division, U.S. Census Bureau.

Voluntary self-disclosures should include:

• The kind of violation involved, for example, failure to file EEI, failure to correct fatal errors, failure to file timely corrections;
• Describe all data that was either not reported or reported incorrectly;
• An explanation of when and how the violations occurred;
• The complete identities and addresses of all individual and entities, whether foreign or domestic, involved in the activities giving rise to the violations;
• A description of any mitigating factors;
• Corrective measures taken; and
• ITNs of the missed and/or corrected shipments.

For more information on voluntary self-disclosures please refer to Foreign Trade Regulations, section 30.74.

Resources

Notice

1. This definition of Disclose: Disclosure Is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary