UNPARALLELED EXPERTISE

Board of Management

Bryce Blegen

Bryce Blegen is CEO of Trusted Trade Alliance LLC, responsible for managing the organization’s global activities from its headquarters in Vancouver, Washington, USA. He is also Regional Manager, Americas, for the Centre for Customs & Excise Studies, University of Canberra. Previously, he was President of MIC Customs Solutions, a provider of global customs and trade software solutions. At Delphi Corporation, Mr. Blegen served as Global Customs Counsel and Regional Director of Customs, Europe for four years starting in early 2001. Before joining Delphi, Mr. Blegen spent 10 years at Robert Bosch, as Senior Counsel in the company’s corporate legal department at Bosch’s headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, and prior to that as Manager, International Trade and Assistant General Counsel for Bosch’s North American operations.

As one of the few U.S. attorneys specializing in global customs compliance and trade issues, Mr. Blegen has been active in spearheading customs simplification and trade facilitation initiatives in the U.S., Mexico, Europe and China, working closely with trade associations and government officials. He is co-chair of the International Policy Committee of the American Association of Exporters and Importers, has been a member of the Legal and Transition/Software Committees of US Customs and Border Protection’s Trade Support Network since 2004, and served as co-chair of the 2008 World Customs Forum at the World Customs Organization in Brussels. He is a frequent speaker on customs and trade topics in the US and Europe.

Mr. Blegen received a Juris Doctor and a Master of Arts in International Studies from the University of Denver in 1989. He has been admitted as an attorney in Illinois since 1990, and is fluent in English and German.

Rogelio Cruz Vernet

Rogelio Cruz Vernet is the Managing Director, Latin America for Trusted Trade Alliance and Principal of Customs Trade Solutions Latin America, SC, a consulting firm focused on trade compliance and supply chain security in Latin America. He is also a Partner at the firm Chevez and Cruz Vernet, SC in Mexico City, responsible for the firm’s customs and trade practice. Prior to Chevez, he had served as Mexican Customs Counsel for Delphi, where he was very active in spearheading customs simplification and trade facilitation initiatives in Mexico. Prior to joining Delphi, Mr. Cruz Vernet spent 12 years at Basham, Ringe and Correa as Senior Associate in the customs and international trade department in Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico. He was admitted as an attorney in Mexico in 1994, and received a Law Degree from the La Salle University Mexico City. Mr. Cruz Vernet also has a Diploma in Tax Law from Universidad Panamericana and a Diploma of Legal Framework of Foreign Trade from the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de México. Mr. Cruz Vernet is the designated legal advisor to and responsible for the coordination of the Customs and Logistics Committee of the Mexican Foreign Trade Council (COMCE), Northeast Chapter, in Monterrey, and is a founding member of the Mexican Foreign Trade Executive Officers Institute. He is also a member of the Texas-Mexico Bar Association, and of the Mexican Bar Association. Languages: Spanish and English.

Areas of practice: Customs law and foreign trade, Fiscal-customs litigation, procedures against unlawful foreign trade practices (antidumping) and lobbying with respect to foreign trade legislation.

Michael Laden

Michael Laden, CFO of Trusted Trade Alliance LLC and TII Principal, brings more than twenty five (25) years of experience in the area of customs compliance matters, recently as the President of a customs brokerage firm operating exclusively for and inside of a mass retailer. Mr. Laden has been a licensed US Customs Broker since 1981. He served the maximum two term limit on the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) providing advice on customs matters to the US Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security. He is a member of the CBP Trade Support Network (TSN) which is currently designing the next CBP computer architecture known as ACE (Automated Commercial Environment). He was the executive sponsor of a self-filing program for customs entries (>200,000 entries annually) and helped a mass retailer achieve the coveted ISA designation. With his organization being one of the first seven companies involved, Mr. Laden is also credited with being a forerunner in the development of the US C-TPAT program.

Mr. Laden is a recognized expert in the customs compliance and the supply chain regulatory environment. He was a founding and charter member of the Business Alliance for Customs Modernization. He has served on the Board of Governors for the American Association of Exporters and Importers since 1988, and is a past Chairman. He has been active as a member of the World Customs Organization’s Private Sector Consultative Group.

Matthias Merz

Managing Director, Europe, for the Trusted Trade Alliance, and educated in the law at the University of Muenster where he has taught law and related subjects, since 1997 Matthias Merz has been the Managing Director (CEO) of the well-known AWA Foreign Trade Academy training institute. Based in Muenster and known by its German title AWA AUSSENWIRTSCHAFTS-AKADEMIE, the AWA is a leading organizer of export controls, customs- and tax-related seminars and compliance training in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary.

Matthias Merz has lectured extensively on Export Controls, Customs Law and company compliance programs in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Switzerland, The Netherlands and in the United Kingdom.

Prior to establishing the AWA, Matthias Merz conducted research and did other academic work in Tax and Public Law at the Institute for International and European Law at the University of Muenster. While managing the AWA in 1998-2001, he also was Academic Assistant to Professor Dr. Stefan Kadelbach at the Chair for International Public Law in that well-known Institute. In addition to teaching at the State of Westphalia's Administrative Academy in Bielefeld, he worked closely at the Chair for Public Law in Muenster with Professor Dr. Hans-Michael Wolffgang at the Institute of Tax Law at Muenster University. Prof. Dr. Wolffgang now is co-shareholder with him in the AWB Steuerberatungsgesellschaft (Tax Consultancy Company) and is Editor-in-Chief of the journal, "AW-Prax" (Aussen-Wirtschaftliche-Praxis or Foreign Trade Practice). Matthias is Editor-in-Chief of the monthly published journal "Der Zollprofi" (The Customs Professional).

The AWA is co-located with AWB Steuerberatungsgesellschaft (Tax and Foreign Trade Law Consultancy) in Muenster in Germany. The AWB was co-founded in 2005 and headed by Matthias Merz and Prof. Dr. Wolffgang as partners. In addition to customs and tax matters, the AWB assists clients to establish and maintain Trade Compliance processes and operations, including training, Control Plans, and related aspects of global trade controls as well as structures to comply with the AEO (Authorized Economic Operator) challenges.

With his base in the AWA and AWB in Muenster, since 2000 Matthias Merz has been Managing Director of AWA SUISSE GmbH, based near Zurich, and since 2001 of AWA AUSTRIA GmbH in Linz. Since 2003 he also has been a Partner with Hannl, Nagy & Partners which manages AWA HUNGARY in Budapest. The AWA branches provide training and seminars in each of the before mentioned countries.

David Widdowson

Professor David Widdowson, Managing Director, Asia-Pacific, for the Trusted Trade Alliance, is a specialist consultant in customs and international trade facilitation. He is the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Customs & Excise Studies, University of Canberra; founder and President of the International Network of Customs Universities; and an Advisory Group member of the World Customs Organization’s Partnership in Customs Academic Research and Development. David is also a Professor of International Trade and Customs Law, and Editor-in-Chief of the World Customs Journal

David has 30 years experience in his field of expertise. He served with the Australian Customs Service for 21 years, including seven years in the Senior Executive Service. As the highest-ranking senior executive responsible for compliance management, he introduced new cultural, operational and structural approaches to managing risk and compliance that are now regarded as international benchmarks

David has undertaken a series of major reviews of cargo management systems throughout Asia, Australasia, the Pacific and Africa and has gained extensive knowledge and experience in many countries through customs modernization studies, capacity building programs, policy reviews, trade facilitation reviews, risk management, compliance management, and change management programs, IT systems development, legislative reform programs, self-assessment regimes, organizational and structural reform programs, business process reengineering and training, education and development programs.

Qualifications

David is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management. He holds a PhD in Customs Management, a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. David’s doctoral thesis examines the use of risk management principles and practices by customs administrations to maximize both international trade facilitation and regulatory control.

Senior Advisers

Creck Buyonge

Creck Buyonge is the Regional Director, Africa for the Trusted Trade Alliance and Manager of the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Office of the Centre for Customs & Excise Studies, University of Canberra based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at the University of Canberra. Prior to joining CCES, Creck was a senior manager in the Kenya Revenue Authority, including Deputy Commissioner (Policy & Legislation) in the Customs Services Department.

While at KRA, Creck was the Secretary to the Customs Valuation Appeals Tribunal, Project Manager in the East African Trade and Transport Facilitation Project, and Alternate Director to the Commissioner of Customs Services at the Board of the Export Processing Zones Authority. He was the principal contact for the African Union, World Customs Organization (WCO), WTO, World Bank, East African Community and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.

He is a founding member of the WCO East and Southern Africa Regional Steering Group, and participated actively towards the establishment of the WCOESA Regional Office for Capacity Building. He has represented Kenya as a delegate to the WCO, specifically in the High Level Working Group on Capacity Building, the Task Force on Security and Facilitation of the International Trade Supply Chain, the Integrity Sub-Committee, the Policy Commission and Council. Twice elected as Vice Chairman of the WCO Permanent Technical Committee (2006/2007), Creck has attended numerous regional and international customs conferences and meetings as a participant and speaker.

George Grace

George Grace is an Associate Director of the Trusted Trade Alliance and of the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies at the University of Canberra. Based in Perth Australia, George is a specialist consultant in Customs and international trade facilitation with a wide understanding of international Customs policies, practices and procedures.
During a career of over 25 years with the Australian Customs Service, George worked at a regional, national and international level. He represented Australia in World Customs Organization, World Trade Organization and Australia Group meetings. In 1995 and 1996, George was chairman of the Working party to the WCO Permanent Technical Committee.
George has extensive experience at a Customs operational level and across a range of areas with a principal focus on Customs compliance, profiling and targeting and border enforcement. He spent six years as a regional Customs Director, in that time, managing all areas of Customs business.
In his work at the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies, George has developed and delivered international trade and Customs training, both face-to-face and on-line, for Customs administrations and multi-national companies. The key focus of this training is the achievement of regulatory compliance and commercially beneficial trade facilitation outcomes.

Steve Holloway

Steve Holloway is an Associate Director, Asia-Pacific for the Trusted Trade Alliance and Director of the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies within the University of Canberra, an Adjunct Professor in the University’s School of Law and co-author of the University of Canberra’s postgraduate programs in International Customs Law & Administration.

Steve first joined the Australian Customs Service in 1984 as an in-house lawyer with the Legal Services Branch. During his time in Australian Customs he had management responsibility for a number of areas including Legislation and International as a Director and on appointment to the Senior Executive, Business Systems and Compliance. At the time of his departure from Australian Customs Steve was the National Manager, Compliance.

Steve is a lawyer with particular expertise in customs, international trade and logistics, intellectual property, regulatory compliance, information technology project management and electronic commerce. He has had some 22 years experience in customs and international trade issues.

Qualifications

Steve holds an LLB from the Australian National University and is admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the ACT Supreme Court and a Barrister of the Federal and High Courts of Australia.

John Howard

John Howard is an Associate Director, Middle East & North Africa for the Trusted Trade Alliance and is an Associate Director and Manager, Middle East Affairs, in the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies at the University of Canberra, Australia. He has over 40 years experience in border management and customs administration and his areas of expertise include border security, interagency border management, risk management process mapping, cargo process modelling, and trade facilitation.

John has worked extensively in the Middle East on border management and security projects, in the Greater Mekong Sub Region (GMS) on cross border facilitation initiatives, with ASEAN customs administrations on development of a cargo processing model and with AusAID in Cambodia on implementation of risk management. He has undertaken a number of missions on behalf of AusAID and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to assess border operations in the GMS region.

He was the Customs Attaché at the Australian Embassy in Washington D.C. from 1987 until 1991 and on his return to Australia worked on major projects such as Advance Passenger Information (API) and the development of new maritime and cargo security initiatives.

John holds a Master’s degree in International Customs law and Administration from the University of Canberra.

Brian Hurrell

Brian Hurrell joined the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies in May 2008 as Chief Operating Officer. He has over 40 years experience in managing a customs administration at a senior executive level both in regional and headquarters roles. His most recent appointments were as National Director for Enforcement & Investigation and Maritime Operations Support.

He has considerable experience in all areas of customs, excise and border management, policy, administration, and operations. Brian’s particular areas of expertise are anti- dumping, offshore maritime enforcement, whole of government border coordination, investigations and enforcement policy & practice, export controls and counter proliferation measures.

Brian has represented the Australian Government at international meetings on counter proliferation, capacity building related to border integrity and collaboration with trade and industry on integrated border management.

He has over thirty years experience as a commissioned officer in the Australian Army Reserve and is a graduate of the Australian Army Reserve Command and Staff College. He is also a graduate of the Hong Kong Civil Service Staff College and the Australian Quality College.

Stephen J. Hyland

A Senior Advisor for the Trusted Trade Alliance, Steve Hyland is a graduate of the Royal Australian Naval College, the RAN Staff College and the US Naval War College, and he served in a number of ship-based and on-shore positions during his 23 years of naval service.
In 1991, Steve joined the Maritime Policy Division of the Transport and Communications Ministry, working on the introduction of electronic trading in the trade and transport sector. He returned to Defense in 1994 as head of the committee secretariat responsible for evaluating major project acquisition strategies and tender evaluation reports.
In 1998 he was appointed the Defense Acquisition Attaché in Washington, representing the Australian Government in negotiations on export control and export licensing matters, and assisting Australian industry to export to the US defense market. He also worked closely with US Government agencies to achieve desired defense technology release and export licensing outcomes for the Australian Government and companies.

Steve returned to Australia in 2001 as Director, US Export Controls where he was responsible for negotiations with the US State and Defense Departments on a proposed exemption from US export control requirements. He subsequently developed the 2006 US export control improvement program and supported its negotiation. He also participated in the negotiation of the Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty (still to be ratified).
With a refocusing of the Australian Defense Materiel Organization away from US trade and export control issues, he left Defense in 2008 for private-sector consulting, where he provides continued support to industry in Australia and the region on US trade and export control matters.

J. Christian (“Chris”) Kessler

J. Christian (“Chris”) Kessler is Senior Adviser to MK Technology and the Trusted Trade Alliance, where he provides policy advice and analysis on matters related to U.S. export controls, the Wassenaar Arrangement, and a wide range of strategic tech-transfer issues. He also serves as President of NorthRaven Consulting, Inc. in Seattle, where he advises clients on a range of matters including U.S. and non-U.S. commercial remote-sensing satellite policy and regulation. Prior to his retirement from the U.S. Department of State in April 2008 as a member of the U.S. Government’s elite Senior Executive Service (SES), Chris Kessler was Director of the Office of Conventional Arms Threat Reduction in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN), where he represented the United States in the 40-nation Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and for Dual-Use Goods & Technologies, directed U.S. export and sanctions policy relating to sensitive dual-use technologies and conventional arms, and led the interagency process regarding foreign policy and national security policy regarding commercial and foreign remote-sensing satellites.

From 1996 to 1999, he was Senior Advisor for Congressional & Public Affairs to the State Department Assistant Secretary for Political Military Affairs, and from 1999 through 2001 he held the same position advising the Assistant Secretary for Nonproliferation, directing and coordinating press and legislative representation on non-proliferation, arms control, and export related matters. After earning a second Masters Degree at the National War College, he served as Deputy Director for Regional Nonproliferation, where from 1994 to 1996 he oversaw U.S. programs to establish nonproliferation Science Centers in Russia and Ukraine; U.S. support to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) as they searched for and destroyed elements of Saddam Hussein’s programs to develop nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, as well as a host of other regional nonproliferation activities concerning South Asia, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union (including Project Sapphire to remove highly-enriched uranium from Kazakhstan).

During his 26-year State Department career, Chris Kessler was Director of the State Department’s Nuclear Safeguards & Technology/Safety Division, and for eleven years was the senior Department official guiding international nuclear safeguards policy and managing the U.S. technical assistance program to the IAEA’s Department of Safeguards. He also negotiated a number of agreements with allied governments on conventional arms and dual-use export control matters, remote-sensing satellite, nuclear safeguard and transportation-security matters, as well as a dozen nuclear safeguards arrangements with the IAEA.

Before joining the State Department in 1982, Chris Kessler served as a nuclear safeguards and export policy expert in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of International Programs, a program manager for Lulejian & Associates, a policy analyst for the Center for Naval Analyses, and staff assistant to Rep. Mike McCormick (D-WA) on economic and foreign policy matters.

He graduated from Bowdoin College, and holds Masters Degrees from Indiana University and the National War College. He is the author of many professional papers on international nuclear safeguards; security of offshore economic structures, and legal authorities in offshore waters; and of Verifying Nonproliferation Treaties: Obligation, Process, and Sovereignty (NDU Press, 1995).

Terence Murphy

Trusted Trade Alliance Senior Advisor Terence Murphy, Esq. is Chairman of MK Technology. As its CEO from 2004 -2009, he led its expansion both in the recruitment of senior staff in the Washington, D.C. head office and in extending its geographical reach to the West Coast, Europe and Asia. With a background in antitrust, constitutional, corporate and regulatory law, he has substantial high-level experience in strategic technology transfer including dual-use and munitions exports, encryption, tech transfer in universities, and economic sanctions. Current issues include tech transfer to China and India, within the academic and research communities and within North American, European, Pacific, and Middle East defense and other industries.
Terry Murphy has played significant roles in many of the major trade controls and sanctions disputes from the late Cold War to the present day; in each case, his clients achieved their objectives. Following two years as a trial lawyer in the Justice Department and three years as an antitrust trial associate, he was a partner for 11 years in the well-known Washington law firm Wald, Harkrader & Ross. In 1986, he formed the boutique international law firm Murphy Ellis Weber where he practiced until joining MK Technology in November 2003.
In 2000-2001, he was named by successive Secretaries of Commerce to the Bureau of Industry and Security's advisory committee on strategic trade regulation (RPTAC). As chair of its Working Group on Compliance and Enforcement, he led the advisory process that preceded new Penalty Guidelines. He has been a Board Member of the Industry Coalition on Technology Transfer since the ICOTT was founded.
Since 2004 a Senior Associate of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in 2000-2001 he helped develop CSIS recommendations on munitions export reform leading to a Presidential Review.. He helped write the 2005 CSIS/National Academy of Sciences White Paper on "deemed exports", and he co-chaired the National Academies workshop on that subject. In 2006, he was lead witness before the initial public meeting of the Commerce Department's blue-ribbon "Deemed Exports Advisory Committee" that led in December 2007 to the landmark report on The Deemed Exports Rule in the Era of Globalization. In 2006-07, he helped to prepare a CSIS "trusted partners" working paper on U.S.-UK defense cooperation. In 2007, that paper was followed by defense-cooperation treaties between the U.S.-UK and the U.S.-Australia.
Terry Murphy has authored articles and other communications on antidumping and international trade, strategic trade, product liability and transatlantic diplomacy in U.S. and European journals. For a decade, he has organized and chaired the gold-standard Global Trade Controls conferences in Europe and occasionally in Asia. For his contributions to British-American relations, in 1993 Terry Murphy was awarded an O.B.E. (Officer, Order of the British Empire). Formerly resident in Brussels, in 2003 he was appointed Foreign Trade Adviser to the Belgian Embassy in Washington. In 2007, he was appointed a knight Officer (O.L.) of the Order of Leopold, the highest grade open to non-Belgian private citizens in that country’s most senior honorary Order.
In addition to English, his languages include German and French. A graduate of Harvard and the University of Michigan, Terry Murphy holds a J.D. from the latter in public and international law with highest honors then awarded, and was a maritime trial lawyer in the Department of Justice Honors Program. Before studying law, he served several years in the Mediterranean and elsewhere at sea as an officer in the U.S. Navy.

Jamal Olaimat

Jamal Olaimat is an Associate Director, Middle East and North Africa for the Trusted Trade Alliance and Regional Manager for the Centre for Customs and Excise, Middle East and North Africa.
Jamal is a customs specialist with more than 20 years of experience in a wide variety of customs technical areas including, rules of origin, tariff schedules and audits, classification and taxation, investigation, policy, supply chain security and compliance.
Jamal has an outstanding record of achievement in the Middle East and North Africa having worked for a number of years on a USAID funded program in Jordan and as head of international conventions and agreements in the tariff directorate of the Customs Authority of Jordan. Jamal was the Jordanian delegate to the World Customs Organization (WCO) on harmonized systems and rules of origin. He worked on the development of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone (ASEZA) project, in particular with the preparation of the draft law and regulations.
Prior to joining the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies he was Chief of Party for the Jordan Customs Administration Modernization Program, funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). He was awarded the Independent Medal by his Majesty the late King Hussein.
Jamal holds a Bachelor of Arts in Nutrition & Food Technology /Agriculture Engineering from the University of Jordan. He speaks Arabic and English.

Rob Preece

Rob Preece, Associate Director, Asia-Pacific for the Trusted Trade Alliance, is an experienced consultant in the area of trade and customs law and administration, specializing in compliance techniques. Rob is an Associate Director with the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies and is based in Bangkok Thailand with coverage of South East Asia. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at the University of Canberra.

Rob has 24 years experience in the trade and customs field. His experience includes some 15 years in the Australian Customs Service primarily in area of industry compliance, and as an international trade consultant with global professional service firms Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Rob has had significant exposure to the food and beverage, tobacco and fuel industries. Rob currently advises a number of global businesses, and regional government agencies in trade and customs matters, and enjoys excellent relations with regulatory agencies across South East Asia.

Rob holds both a Masters of International Customs Law and Administration, and a Bachelor of Arts (Criminal Justice).

Francis C. (“Frank”) Record

Trusted Trade Alliance Senior Advisor Francis C. (“Frank”) Record is the Executive Partner of MK Technology, where he concentrates on export-controls, tech-transfer and economic sanctions, and related transnational issues. With a background of more than 25 years experience in the legislative and executive branches, he has substantial high-level experience in trade and security issues including export-control policy and regulations, and economic sanctions.
Recently serving as the acting Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation, he directed the activities of the ISN Bureau comprising more than 200 civil servants, Foreign Service Officers and other personnel. He represented the Bureau in senior Department of State staff discussions, in inter-agency meetings, in hearings before Congress, and in policy dialogues with foreign government officials. He participated directly in a number of counter-proliferation and export-control issues as well as in policy discussions on many countries including North Korea, Iran, India, and China.
In his capacity as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the ISN Bureau, he also played a key role in merging the Arms Control and Nonproliferation Bureaus and in subsequently managing the newly-created Offices for Counter Proliferation Initiatives, for Weapons of Mass destruction and Terrorism, for Strategic Planning and Outreach, and for the newly-reorganized Office for Regional Affairs. He led an inter-agency team discussing U.S. policies including economic sanctions toward Chinese entities, and he played a key role in dual use, munitions and finance policy discussions with Commerce Department officials from the Bureau for International Security and with Treasury Department officials from the Office of Foreign Assets Control. From 1990 through 2004, Frank Record was a Senior Professional Staff Member for the then House International Relations Committee responsible for a wide range of international economic policy issues relating to the reauthorization of the Export Administration Act, numerous sanctions bills, reauthorizations for a number of trade agencies, and the consideration of numerous other trade-related measures. He took part in extensive policy coordination with officials from the Departments of State, Commerce, Treasury, and Defense as well as other agencies including the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Export-Import Bank, where he was Deputy Vice President from 1988 through 1990.
He has had extensive public-speaking experience, and is a graduate of Harvard College with a concentration in Government, holds a Master's Degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and was a member of the U.S. Government’s Senior Executive Service.

George S. “Sam” Sevier

George S. "Sam" Sevier is a Senior Adviser to MK Technology and to the Trusted Trade Alliance, focusing on the Western Region, Asia-Pacific, and Defense Trade with special reference to munitions export controls the U.S. Defense and State Departments under the ITAR and other authorities. He is a retired Colonel (USAF) and a former member of the Defense Department's Senior Executive Service. As of June 2010, he was appointed to the post of Chair of the reorganized Defense Trade Advisory Group (DTAG) in the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC). He plays a key leadership role in this important forum for interchange between DDTC and organizations public and private affected by the International Traffic in Arms Act (ITAR).

Prior to his retirement from the U.S. Government as a member of the elite Senior Executive Service, Sam Sevier was Deputy Director of the Defense Department's Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA) from 2003-2005. Before that he worked for Westinghouse's Electronic Systems Division as Vice President, International Business and Washington Operations. Following the Division's acquisition by Northrop Grumman, he was a Director of the International Business and Electronic Systems Sector with offices in Baltimore and Rosslyn, VA from 1994 to 2003; he retired at the end of December 2002 to take the position at DTSA.

From 1986-1994, first Colonel Sevier and then Mr. Sevier served as the Chief of the Weapon Systems Division, in the Defense Department's Defense Security Assistance Agency (DSAA), overseeing most of the major foreign military sales program competitions during that time.

Colonel Sevier's Air Force career covered over 30 years, starting in 1956 as an enlisted electronic technician in UHF-VHF Radio Maintenance and ending with his retirement in October 1990, while at DSAA.

During his eight years at Westinghouse and Northrop Grumman, Sam Sevier was active in the Washington, DC international business community and in the industry associations that serve it. He was Chairman of the U.S.-ROC Economic Council's Defense Industrial Committee; of the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council's Defense and Security Working Group; of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) Export Controls Committee, Chairman-National Defense Industries Association (NDIA) International Committee; and of the National Security Industrial Association (NDIA)International Committee's Export Sub-committee. He was a member of the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) Export Controls Committee; of the U.S.- NATO Industrial Advisory Group (NIAG); of the State Department's Defense Trade Advisory Group (DTAG); and of the IEEE Computer Society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Air Force Association, and the Association of Old Crows.

Sam Sevier remains an active member of the NDIA, the Society for International Affairs (SIA), the Air Force Association and the Association of Old Crows. Upon return to his home base, in May 2005 he was appointed to the Western Washington University College of Business and Economics Board of Visitors.

A native of Bellingham, Washington, Mr. Sevier received his bachelor's degree from Western Washington University with concentrations in Math, Electronics and Economics in 1964. He received a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in 1977. He also completed additional post-graduate work in Computer Science and in Industrial Technology at East Texas State University in 1977-78 and 1983-84.

Geoff Short

Associate Director, Asia-Pacific for the Trusted Trade Alliance, Geoff Short is a specialist international trade lawyer. A highly acclaimed trade advocacy consultant, Geoff is based in Sydney, Australia. Geoff has over 25 years experience in his area of expertise, including senior positions in government and private enterprise, dealing with legal aspects of international trade.

His career has included positions as Director, Legal Branch, Australian Customs Service; Senior Consultant in indirect tax with global accounting firm Touche Ross (now Deloitte); and Partner with international law firm, Baker & McKenzie - experience which has enabled him to develop a comprehensive knowledge of international trade regulation along with expert government relations skills.

Geoff maintains extensive business and government networks within Asia through regular client assignments in the region and through his active membership of key regional and international business councils. He advises numerous multinational corporations on their market access and trade compliance strategies across a range of industry sectors including agriculture, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, construction and industrial goods.

He is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at the University of Canberra and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is a Governor of the American Chamber of Commerce and is also a member of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association, the Law Council of Australia, the Australia-China Business Council, the Australia-India Business Council and the Australia-Vietnam Business Council.

Geoff holds Bachelors degrees in Law and Economics from the Australian National University and a Master of Laws from the University of Technology, Sydney. He is admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court, a Solicitor of the New South Wales Supreme Court and as a Barrister of the Federal Court of Australia and the High Court of Australia.

Toshio (“Ted”) Watanabe

A Senior Advisor for the Trusted Trade Alliance, and Partner responsible for MK Technology's operations in Asia since 2005, Toshio (“Ted”) Watanabe is also a trade-controls adviser of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). He was General Manager of International Security Trade Controls in Mitsui & Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, where he had a distinguished thirty-year career. His career in Mitsui included extensive experience in managing cross-border projects and operations, and extensive knowledge of international-security trade controls. It also included nine years based in Mitsui London, plus five years based in Germany and Belgium, and two years in Hong Kong for Mitsui.
From 1997 to 2000, he was Associate Director of Mitsui Europe, and acted as Honorary Secretary of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in London. In 2001, he was Senior Coordinator in charge of corporate-wide overseas coordination in Western, Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, and from 2002 to 2004 he was General Manager of the International Security Trade Controls Division of Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
From 2003 to 2004, Toshio Watanabe chaired the Internal Compliance Program Subcommittee of the Center for Information on Security Trade Controls (CISTEC). In 2004, he also acted as chairman of the Security Trade Controls Committee of the Japan Foreign Trade Council Inc. (JFTC). Since 2005, he has been Co-Chair of the well-known "Global Trade Controls" conferences in Europe and Asia. He is a member of the new Japan Association of International Security and Trade.
A graduate of Japan's International College of Commerce and Economics, with a concentration on International Marketing, Toshio Watanabe studied under the well-known Professor Minoru Hagiwara who also was an Honorary Research Associate in Harvard University's Economics Department, and also studied at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, USA. He speaks Japanese and English.

Hans-Michael Wolffgang

Prof. Dr. Hans-Michael Wolffgang is Senior Advisor, Europe for the Trusted Trade Alliance, and is a co-shareholder and partner of the AWB Tax Consultancy Ltd., based in Münster, Germany and a senior advisor and consultant to MK Technology, export control consultancy services based in Washington D.C.

He is a professor of international trade and tax law and head of the Department of Customs and Excise which forms part of the Institute of Tax Law at the University of Münster, Germany. Additionally, he is a co-shareholder of the affiliated AWA Foreign Trade Academy, where he specializes in customs and export control law. The AWA is a leading training institute for international trade and has affiliates in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland.

A former member of the German customs administration and former fiscal advisor to Germany's Federal Fiscal Supreme Court, Prof. Dr. Wolffgang is a board member of Centre of International Trade Law at the University of Münster. He also is Editor-in-Chief of the AW Prax, a leading journal of external trade and customs law in German-speaking countries and the chairman of the EFA European Forum for External Trade, Excise and Customs.

Prof. Dr. Wolffgang has written extensively on international trade law, customs law and export controls in Europe. His areas of research include regional trade associations such as free trade zones and customs unions throughout the world. Prof. Dr. Wolffgang acts as an advisor to German and international enterprises concerning export and trade controls, international customs and other aspects of trade law and practice. In addition to his academic work, he has been the leader of expert teams providing technical assistance and capacity building to governments in Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Palestine, Serbia, Southern and Eastern Africa and elsewhere in relation to customs and excise and other international trade issues.

Kelby Woodard

Kelby Woodard, Managing Director, North America for the Trusted Trade Alliance, and a Principal of Trade Innovations, spent eleven (11) years with a mass retailer located in Minneapolis, Minnesota as the Director of Supply Chain Assets Protection. In this capacity, he and his team were instrumental in providing supply chain security expertise to the legacy US Customs Service in the months and years following the attacks of September 11th. The result of these consultations was the formation of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program. His employer was one of the seven charter members of C-TPAT and has maintained a leadership position in defining new criteria and standards as a result of his efforts. Mr. Woodard also managed the Operation Safe Commerce project and Smart Box testing and has worked on several projects focused on the use of RFID technology to secure global commerce.

Mr. Woodard was responsible for a global security team that focused on risk analysis and mitigation strategies spanning a supply chain spread throughout 84 countries. He and his team were also responsible for significantly reducing cargo theft issues within the United States and providing assets protection services to 28 distribution centers.

Prior to his employment in Minneapolis, he served with the US Customs Service in Washington, DC. Mr. Woodard holds an MBA in International Business from the University of Dallas and Certificate of Global Security Management from Georgetown University.

Jurgen Zacny

A Senior Advisor for the Trusted Trade Alliance, Mr. Jurgen Zacny is also the principal consultant with the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies in the subject of export control of defense and strategic goods. Mr Zacny has recently retired from the Australian Department of Defense. After 24 years in the Australian Army, Mr Zacny joined the Australian Public Service where he was the project director for various major Army acquisition projects and subsequently involved in the governance aspects of major defense projects.
Prior to his retirement from 2001 to 2009, Mr Zacny was the director of the Australian Government’s strategic goods export control licensing authority. He was responsible for the complete licensing and support operations that ensured exports of military and dual-use goods and technology were properly authorized and in accordance with extant legislative requirements. Trained as an electronic engineer, and an experienced Army engineering officer, Mr Zacny was also the technical authority for assessing whether goods for export were in fact controlled under Australian legislation. Training and outreach in export control was also managed and conducted by Mr Zacny, ensuring exporters were aware of their obligations and had an appreciation of the process and assisting in compliance with government requirements.
More recently, Mr Zacny has been responsible for the benchmarking of the Australian defense export control system and subsequent development of new legislation to bring Australia into line with world’s best practice. He was also involved in the negotiations with the US for the recently signed Treaty on Defense Trade Cooperation, and, until his retirement, was managing the development of new legislation to enable the implementation of the Treaty.