All products exported from the United States must be classified for licensing purposes; of these, a small but very important percentage will require an advance export license prior to shipment overseas which failure to obtain can result in very heavy civil, even criminal penalties.  Export licensing requirements depend on the agency having jurisdiction over the product, the nature of that product and its classification, the destination country, and the purchaser, consignee and end use/end user.  Even relatively simple products may be classifiable under a “controlled” category as they may incorporate a “defense article”, are deemed usable in the development of chemical and biological weapons, or are specified as being in short supply, among other reasons.  Steadily increasing penalties for export violations and the time and costs associated with export enforcement investigations make it advisable to adopt an export compliance program that ensures best efforts to satisfy the requirements of the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Census Bureau.

This law firm has wide experience in dealing with export classification, export licensing, and export compliance programs including but certainly not limited to:

• Obtaining export classification rulings from BIS;
• Applying for and obtaining BIS export licenses;
• Classifying product lines under the ECCNs and ITARs;
• Assisting defense article manufacturers/exporters with DDTC registration requirements;
• Advising on defense article classification under the ITARs;
• Applying for and obtaining DDTC export licenses for defense articles;
• Consulting on export classifications under the standards of the NRC;
• Drafting import/export compliance manuals;
• Dealing with the Census Bureau on alleged SED/AES violations;
• Consulting on export product classifications under Schedule B of the Census Bureau;
• Advising on NAFTA and other FTA exporter certification requirements;
• Structuring an export records retention programs.