On February 26, 1999, the Commerce Department imposed a $60,000 civil penalty on PPG Industries de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (PPG Mexico), a Mexican chemical company, to settle allegations that the company exported potassium fluoride from the United States to Mexico without the required Commerce Department licenses. The Department also alleged that, on two of those occasions, PPG Mexico knew that the violations would occur. A portion of the penalty, $20,000, will be suspended for one year, then waived, if PPG Mexico commits no violations during that time. Potassium fluoride is controlled for export by multilateral agreement with the 30-nation Australia Group because, in addition to its legitimate commercial uses, the chemical has the potential to serve as a precursor in a chemical weapons program.

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