Government Controls

Statutes

  There are two primary controlling statues for businesses and individuals that wish to do international business.

The first is managed by the State Department, which controls defense articles, services, and technical data. The legal authority that gives the State Department the authorization to control these items is the Arms Export Control Act (AECA). This law provides the outline for the U.S. Policy on export and import of items deemed to be vital to national security. The AECA is implemented by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) — these regulations provide guidance on how items are classified by the State Department, what controls are in place and the requirements for exporting or importing those items. The ITAR is how an organization is meant to understand the requirements, classifications and controls related to defense type equipment. The ITAR controls a wide range of items, including bit parts and components — your organization cannot assume that a bolt you ordered to a certain length for your tank is just a bolt and not controlled — because it was designed, developed, created — for a defense article — the item is controlled as tightly as the article itself.

The second statue is managed by the Department of Commerce (DoC), which controls all other items not controlled by the Department of State. The legal authority for the Commerce Department is the Export Administration Act (EAA). This law provides the outline for the import and export of all items not controlled under the ITAR. The EAA is implemented by the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). These regulations provide guidance on how items are classified by the Commerce Department, what controls are in place and the requirements for export or importing items under this authority.

It is important for a business to understand which agency and regulations control their products and services. The licensing requirements are very different for each agency, they have different entry systems, the formats are different and the response times are different. Your organization must plan in advance how much time it will take to get an authorization from one of these two controlling agencies, and must keep in mind — you may require additional authorizations from other USG entities.