The corporate compliance manager urgently buzzed the front desk to instruct them to not allow the delegation of foreign suppliers to enter the plant because, on screening their names in the visitor management system, some of them turned out to be denied parties.
The call was crucial; allowing the delegation entry could have resulted in fines, negative media publicity, damaged brand reputation and disruptions to normal daily business operations.
What are Denied Parties?
Denied parties (also known as restricted, sanctioned, debarred and blocked parties) are individuals and companies identified on official watchlists by the authorities as being entities that are prohibited from doing business with companies for legal or national security reasons. These entities include those who have breached export trade violations, defrauded the government, are on a police wanted list or who are named as terrorists, money launderers, among others. Collectively, these entities are officially categorized as “bad actors.”
They could be from abroad, or fellow citizens. Their hidden agenda could be to engage in corporate espionage, plot a criminal or terrorist conspiracy, or hide their past record of wrongdoing. They could be amongst visiting academics, foreign government officials, suppliers, customers, local contractors, even new staff hires.
Compliance is all the more urgent in companies involved in the manufacturing and sale of sensitive or controlled goods and technology. Examples include:
- Dual use products that can be deployed for both civilian and military purposes, which come under the auspices of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security Export Administration Regulations as detailed in the Export Control Classification Number system (ECCN)
- Defense articles which fall under the purview of the State Department’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) as defined in the United States Munitions List (USML).
Importance of visitor management systems—the last line of defense
Regardless of the industry involved, companies should be screening for denied parties as part of their fundamental business processes, as well as in accordance with Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) policies or Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives; both of which identify non-financial factors in addressing and mitigating risk in order to enable growth.
Visitor management systems, therefore, should be seen as the last line of defense to prevent bad actors from gaining access to facilities. More robust systems will be able to simultaneously screen against the hundreds of watchlists that are maintained by government agencies along with those of other jurisdictions around the world.
Benefits of restricted party screening
Visitor management systems are critical to screening out unwanted or unauthorized individuals to meet compliance requirements in addition to health and other criteria. Here are four benefits for including denied party screening in your frontline set up:
- Reduces risk of unlawful transfer of sensitive technology.
Screening names simultaneously against multiple lists with results returned in seconds can quickly identify potential denied parties. - Increases safety and security.
By adding restricted party screening as part of the visitor registration process, potential compliance issues can be quickly identified, actioned and averted. - Facilitates security clearance protocols.
Screening helps facilitate the issuance of security clearances to companies, who need to comply with government regulations on controlled technology and exposure to foreign nationals. - Enables growth.
Companies that have effective screening processes are less likely to fall foul of the law and consequently be more likely to be better positioned for growth both in the home market, or globally.
The planned-for outcome is a more managed methodology for visitor access, where screening activities are shared via a centralized system. Additionally, these activities are automatically recorded to prove due diligence for management reporting or in the event of a government audit.
The reality is that when visitors show up at the reception area, they would need to sign in, provide relevant picture identification, be screened, and once the green light is given, be accorded a visitor badge. But with the front desk typically being a very busy place, and with screening criteria often involving multiple lists, compliance tasks are more effective if they are completed in conjunction with robust and automated technology solutions.
How Sign In Enterprise can help
Sign In Enterprise is the leader in enterprise visitor management, empowering businesses across five continents and dozens of industries to make visitor access safe, secure and effortless.
Through its partnership with Descartes Visual Compliance, Sign In Enterprise provides organizations with the ability to screen visitors against hundreds of watchlists, and help prevent potential fines and other penalties that can come as a result of debarred and sanctioned individuals gaining access to facilities and controlled technologies.
Sign In Enterprise has helped companies implement denied party screening as part of its visitor management solutions, including global capital equipment supplier, Veeco, and aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul provider, StandardAero.
Download Veeco reboots its operation thanks to a highly customizable security platform to learn more.