The US maintains export sanctions, in the form of export prohibition or restriction, to various countries and end users. While some of these sanctions apply to all US exports across the board, others hold good only for specified exports.
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) in U.S. Department of State and the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS, formerly known as the Bureau of Export Administration or BXA) in the U.S. Department of Commerce are primarily responsible for Export control.
The type of export control applicable depends on the nature of the concerned product. Usually military applications or defense articles are subject to DDTC’s export control jurisdiction, while dual use items with civil or commercial end use, as well as a military end use, are subject to the export control jurisdiction of the Commerce Department.
The U.S. export sanctions for defense articles are in place against specified countries as well as targeted end users.
Countries, which are currently subject to U.S. export sanctions for defense article exports, are prohibited destinations for defense article exports. These countries are specified in two separate and distinct U.S. Government-issued embargoed country lists, i.e., the State Department’s Embargoed Country List and the Treasury Department’s Embargoed Country List for Exports. Export of defense articles is currently (as of April 2007) prohibited to 24 countries figuring in the embargoed country lists.
End users, currently (as of April 2007), to whom exports of defense articles cannot be made in any transaction., are specified on five (5) separate and distinct U.S. Government-issued "bad guy lists", namely: (1) the Debarred Parties List; (2) the Nonproliferation Sanctions List; (3) the Specially Designated Nationals List; (4) the Denied Persons List; and (5) the General Order No. 3 to Part 736 of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
Countries, which are currently subject to U.S. export sanctions in the case of defense article exports, are prohibited destinations for defense article exports. These countries are specified in two separate and distinct U.S. Government-issued embargoed country lists, i.e., the State Department’s Embargoed Country List and the Treasury Department’s Embargoed Country List for Exports. Export of defense articles is currently (as of April 2007) prohibited to 24 countries figuring in the embargoed country lists.
The U.S. export sanctions for dual use items are in also in force against specified countries as well as targeted end users, as in case of defense articles.
Accordingly countries, which are at present subject to U.S. export sanctions in the case of dual-use article exports, are prohibited destinations for such exports. These countries are also specified in two separate and distinct U.S. Government-issued embargoed country lists, i.e., the State Department’s Embargoed Country List and the Treasury Department’s Embargoed Country List for Exports. Export of defense articles is currently (as of April 2007) prohibited to 4 (four) countries only figuring in the embargoed country lists namely: Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria, except as otherwise specifically provided in the sanctions regulations for each of the named countries and except as otherwise provided in the Trade Sanctions Reform Act (TSRA). Exceptions to prohibition of exports of dual-use items are generally made for food, medicine and medical devices.
End users, who are currently subject to U.S. export sanctions in the case of dual use exports, are listed on seven (7) separate and distinct U.S. Government-issued “bad guy lists." These seven lists include: (1) the Debarred Parties List; (2) the Nonproliferation Sanctions List; (3) the Denied Persons List; (4) the Entity List; (5) the Unverified List; (6) the General Order No. 3 to the EAR; and (7) the Specially Designated Nationals List.
Of the aforesaid, the Commerce Department’s Entity List and the Unverified List spell out restricted end users to whom exports of dual use items cannot be made without a Commerce Department export license, unless otherwise prescribed by law or regulation. The remaining 5 categories are prohibited end users to whom exports of dual use items cannot be made in any event.
US export sanction lists are liable to change with shift in policy and national concerns. To avoid violating U.S. export sanctions, U.S. exporters must screen their export transactions against sanctioned destinations and sanctioned end users. U.S. export sanctions apply a strict liability standard against violators. This means that the exporter has an absolute duty of compliance, where even unintended violations or accidental omissions or slips are not spared. U.S. export sanction violations have serious consequences, ranging from denial of export privileges and product seizure through monetary fines to imprisonment
(More :www.bis.doc.gov/ComplianceAndEnforcement/ListsToCheck.htm)
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