Frequently Asked Questions

Should your organization determine that your exports are covered by either the EAR or ITAR, you must either apply for the appropriate license, determine whether they come under the purview of an exemption (ITAR) or determine if it is possible to get an exception (EAR).

If an item falls under the EAR or ITAR, a license is needed in order to export. Licenses are limited by time, value, or number of exports, and must be renewed upon expiry.

For items under the EAR, there are multiple categories of license exceptions. Should your organization’s goods qualify for these, you may not need an export license. The exceptions apply to limited cases, including public domain information, fundamental research, and educational information. If the items are on the CCL, and designated EAR99 (see below), they may not require a license unless they are being exported to an embargoed country or a restricted party.

For items on the USML, there are countries that may be exempt from needing licenses. Broad USML exemptions are largely blocked by the United States government in consideration of national security. However, there have been exemptions made for scientific research, and smaller scale exemptions arising from treaties in the past.

EAR99 is a designation on the BIS’ CCL. It acknowledges that an item is not on the CCL, but still subject to the EAR. EAR99 items can usually be exported without license, unless they are being exported to a sanctioned/embargoed country (such as Iran or North Korea), or a restricted/denied party.

If an item is covered by the CCL or USML, and your organization cannot get a license, exception, or exemption, you will be unable to legally export said item.

Yes. All organizations doing business in the United States must adhere to U.S. regulations regarding export compliance. Organizations doing business in other countries may be subject to additional export regulations based on those countries’ jurisdictions as well.

If an organization has subsidiaries and offices abroad, sending them items may count as exports, and be subject to the relevant export controls. This also includes the transfer of information, which may count as a “deemed export.”

Exports do not necessarily have to involve the physical transfer of goods or information out of the country. If, for example, controlled information is transmitted or exposed to a foreign national via electronic means, it counts as a “deemed export”, even if said foreign national resides in the United States. Any organization can fall foul of deemed export violations, with educational institutions and research facilities known to be at high risk for such violations—inadvertent or otherwise.

Government agencies and bodies regulate and control exports by assigning unique export codes or numbers to individual items and components. These classification codes typically denote which restrictions apply to each item, and organizations that import or export are expected to correctly classify their products, as well as adhere to the restrictions that come with them.

Each export control body has its own system of classification for exports. In the U.S., for example, the BIS uses ECCNs, ITAR uses USML, and additionally, the United States Census Bureau maintains Schedule B classification codes for exporting goods out of the U.S. Other countries around the world have their own classification systems that organizations should be mindful of and adhere to where necessary.

There are also Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes (HTS/HS) which are used by most countries throughout the world to classify imported products.