Export transactions can be complicated. Each one comes with a certain degree of risk, and that risk can be hard to manage without the proper set of tools. Luckily, there are many strategies that can help.

Pavel Flider, a Russian national and naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested last month for illegally smuggling electrical components from the United States to Russia as well as using laundered money to fund the operation. The items he smuggled had both civilian and military applications and are described as “controlled dual-use programmable computer chips capable of operating in austere environments.” Flider was indicted for Smuggling Goods, Conspiracy to Commit International Money Laundering, and Money Laundering in San Francisco on March 5th.

Hsien Tai Tsai, a Taiwanese businessman, was sentenced to 24 months in a federal prison last month by a U.S. judge for helping to export restricted machinery often used for weapons. He pleaded guilty to being involved in several commercial and financial transactions that undermined weapons of mass destruction sanctions. The judge gave him a lenient sentence for his crime because he assisted the government in its investigation. He was originally arrested in Estonia but was extradited to Illinois, where his trial took place.

The girl scouts have been in the cookie business since 1917, when they started creating their now-famous baked goods in a high school cafeteria. Their original goal was to make enough money to pay for their day-to-day activities, but over the past decade they have managed to grow the revenue from their products to over $700 million.

Earlier this month, the University of Massachusetts Amherst made the decision to stop admitting native Iranians into some of their science and engineering graduate programs in an attempt to comply with a federal law. The law states that Iranian students will not receive a U.S. visa if they are studying “for a career in Iran’s petroleum, natural gas, nuclear energy, nuclear science or nuclear engineering fields.”

Negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and waterfront employers are causing delays in west coast ports, wreaking havoc for countries all over the world, especially trading partners like Mexico, Japan, China and Canada.

The Export-Import Bank is a government agency that provides U.S. companies the necessary financing capabilities to convert export opportunities into sales. The bank makes it easier for domestic companies to sell goods overseas through encouraging the provision of working-capital loans to U.S. exporters, providing credit insurance in case foreign buyers can’t pay, and guaranteeing loans to foreign entities if they do business with U.S. companies. These types of programs can be especially helpful for smaller businesses that don’t have as many resources as larger institutions.

As 2015 gets into full swing, you may be considering some changes for your business. If one of those changes is improving your supply chain visibility, consider implementing some or all of the following ideas:

Sihai Cheng, who also goes by Chun Hai Cheng and Alex Cheng, arrived at Logan Airport in Boston early last month to face federal charges of conspiring to export items that can be used in the production of nuclear weapons to Iran. He was extradited from the United Kingdom to the U.S., where he now faces a 10-count indictment including charges of conspiracy, illegal export of U.S. goods to Iran and smuggling.

Hetran Inc. and its CEO were sentenced by a judge earlier this month to pay a fine of $337,000 and sentenced to 12 months of probation for trying to smuggle machinery into Iran. The judge made both parties responsible for the payment. The judge also suspended a $500,000 fine to the Department of Commerce and allowed the CEO, Helmut Oertmann, to avoid 4 years in prison for cooperating with the investigation and pleading guilty to the crime.