Mr. Van Arnam is a partner of Barnes, Richardson & Colburn, a national practice with offices in New York, Chicago and Washington, where he practices in all areas of international trade regulatory law, including Customs, international trade remedies, and export controls law. Rick, as he is known, has been with the firm since 1991, and a partner since 1998. He handles a wide variety of matters, representing clients before the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Trade Representative, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Department of State (ITAR matters), U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Consumer Products Safety Commission and numerous other administrative agencies that regulate international business transactions and global trade matters.
A typical problem handled by Mr. Van Arnam involves cutting through the regulatory red tape arising from moving merchandise (finished product, parts, components and raw materials), money, intellectual property or information across international borders. It could involve advising a client in ways to avoid regulatory problems prior to the transaction, or handling an issue, such as a detention or civil violation, that could arise as a result of an ongoing or completed transaction. On many occasions he has advised clients on making voluntary disclosures of self-discovered errors to Customs, BIS, OFAC and other government agencies.
A large portion of his practice is devoted to assisting companies implement or upgrade corporate compliance programs covering their import or export programs. In this capacity he performs self-assessments, as well as assists companies that are undergoing formal compliance assessment reviews conducted by U.S. agencies such as Customs and Border Protection.
Mr. Van Arnam has litigated many cases before the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In addition, in the course of purchasing, selling or moving goods in international business, contracts are breached or merchandise is damaged. In those cases, he has helped his clients resolve their disputes, be it through the negotiation of a settlement or through arbitration or litigation.
With his work as regulatory counsel for a leading U.S. trade association, he has considerable experience with issues involving the FDA's regulation of imported medical devices and the manner in which national and international manufacturing standards are created.
In addition to the practice areas highlighted above, Rick concentrates his practice to the following areas: supply chain compliance programs; customs audits; customs valuation; country of origin and marking matters; export regulation; Customs and international trade litigation; Food and Drug regulatory compliance; prior disclosure law; tariff classification; preferential duty programs; NAFTA; antidumping, countervailing duties; training in international trade subjects; trade policy and legislation; civil Customs enforcement; duty drawback; gray market/counterfeit imports; and anti-bribery compliance.
