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These are the most frequent questions we receive. By consulting the answers below, you may save yourself a phone call. Please check back here regularly because we plan to add additional questions and answers in the future. If you have additional questions please feel free to contact us at (202) 482-4811 or (949) 660-0144.
No. A shipment to Puerto Rico is not defined as an export or reexport under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), so no license is required (NLR). However, the exporter is required to fill out a Shipper's Export Declaration (SED) issued by the Bureau of the Census. If the shipment is going through Puerto Rico and the final destination is a foreign country, the exporter must follow the required procedures for obtaining an Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) in order to ascertain whether a license is required for the shipment. The same rules apply for shipments to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands or any territory, dependency, or possession of the United States. See: EAR section 734.2(b)(8).
The Department of Commerce Trade Information Center can assist you with obtaining this information. The Center can be reached on 1-800-USA-Trade (872-8723).
The Bureau of Export Administration cannot provide you with a Schedule B Number. Information on Schedule B Numbers can be furnished by the Bureau of Census at 301-763-3047 or you can obtain this information on the Census Web site. Schedule B Numbers are different from ECCNs.
Each time an application is electronically transmitted, it is given a date. The following are a few possible explanations for date changes that appear in STELA (our automated "System for Tracking Export License Applications"):
Many common software products have encryption capability, subjecting them to special export controls. Internet software, office software, and many financial software products, among others, have encryption capability. Contact the manufacturer of the software product to find out if it has encryption capability. You can also contact the Information Technology Controls Division within the Bureau of Export Administration at 202-482-0707. Encryption page
The "official" version of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) appears in the Code of Federal Regulations, a U.S. Government publication. All changes to the EAR are published in the Federal Register and these published changes represent the final "official" revision of the EAR, on which you should rely in making your export determinations. There are unofficial versions of the EAR that may be more convenient for you to use. The EAR are online at the GPO web site. Also, BIS announces significant regulatory revisions on its main web site. In addition, for your convenience BIS contracts with the Government Printing Office to print a loose leaf version of the EAR. This version may be purchased as an annual subscription, including a base manual updated by quarterly bulletins that include the most recent quarter's Federal Register changes [More information]. There are also other vendors that sell versions of the EAR.
Yes. There is a U.S. trade embargo against Sudan. That embargo is administered by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
No. These embargoes are still in place. They are administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, of the Department of the Treasury. OFAC made some modifications to the embargoes relating to the export of food, medicine, and certain agriculture commodities. You should consult OFAC about these changes.
When exporting commodities out of the United States (or releasing technology or source code to a foreign national in the United States), you need to classify the item to determine if an export license is required from any U.S. Government agency. If an item is on the Commerce Control List, you need to know the ECCN to determine whether an export license is required.
You must enter the correct ECCN on the SED or AES record for licensed and license exception shipments, and for "no license required" (NLR) shipments of items on the Commerce Control List having a reason for control other than anti-terrorism (AT). The only exception to this requirement is the return of unwanted foreign origin items, meeting the provisions of License Exception TMP, under §740.9(b)(3) of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). See § 15 CFR 758.1(g) (as amended July 10, 2000).
As an exporter, you are required to comply with the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). You are not required to implement an EMS. An EMS can help you comply with the EAR, however, and we urge exporters to have one, or some other system to ensure compliance.
We have developed EMS Guidelines to assist exporters with complying with the EAR by offering different management tools and internal controls that can be implemented at key steps in the order processing flow. The EMS addresses the greater emphasis on end-use and end-user concerns that has been in the EAR since the adoption of the Enhanced Proliferation Control Initiative in the early 1990s. Our controls have moved beyond just focusing on whether your product is controlled to a certain country. Now, you must be concerned about whether your product could end up in the hands of a proliferator or proliferation activity (See part 744 of the EAR). An EMS helps you lay out many of the EAR requirements to ensure that you stay in compliance with the EAR.
We emphasize that EMS procedures should be in writing, but we consider uploading your procedures to an Intranet to be a great way to communicate faster to larger numbers of employees. You do need to be sure that you instruct employees to use the procedures and that someone keeps the procedures up-to-date.
Yes. You may substitute computer models or levels as long as the "performance" levels have not increased above the levels authorized on the export license. Composite Theoretical Performance (CTP) is a measure of computational performance stated in millions of theoretical operations per second (MTOPS). CTP is one of the factors that determines whether computers may be exported or reexported under License Exception CTP . The CTP level for use of License Exception CTP depends upon the "Tier" the destination country. License Exception CTP also contains restrictions on access by nationals of certain countries, and on reexports and transfers. Instructions on how to calculate CTP are contained in a technical note titled "Information on How to Calculate CTP" located at the end of Category 4 of the Commerce Control List (Supp. No. 1 to part 774).
You should contact our Export Seminar Staff at (202) 482-6031 or our Western Regional Office at (949) 660-0144. They offer various seminars for beginners as well as intermediate and advanced exporters on export controls. Seminars are held in locations all over the country. An Export Seminar Staff member will be able to send you an upcoming schedule as well as provide you with information on what each seminar covers. You might want to enroll in one of the half-day workshops on the Export Management System (EMS). The EMS workshop will help you set up an internal control system within your company and provide suggestions on how to best ensure compliance with the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
Export licenses are now being printed on soft green colored paper. The bright green paper used in the past is no longer available from the manufacturer. Although the paper color has changed, nothing else about the license has changed. We are examining the possibility of additional changes in the future.