Export Control and Compliance

About Export Control

Export control regulations are federal laws that restrict the export of specific items, information, and software for reasons related to U.S. national security, economic and foreign policy goals. The University is committed to complying with all U.S. export control laws in both research and non-research activities.

Export controls usually arise for one or more of the following reasons:

• The nature of the export has actual or potential military applications or economic protection issues
• Government concerns about the destination country, organization, or individual, and
• Government concerns about the declared or suspected end use or the end user of the export

Export control regulations cover shipments of controlled physical items, such as scientific equipment that require export licenses from the United States to a foreign country, and transfers of controlled information, including technical data.

The University must also comply with federal regulations when faculty and students travel to certain sanctioned or embargoed countries for purposes of teaching or performing research.

While most exports do not require government licenses, licenses are required for exports that the U.S. government considers "controlled" under:

• The Department of Commerce's Export Administration Regulations (EAR) (also known as the Commerce Control List). The EAR is concerned with dual-use items, such as computers or pathogens that are designed for commercial use, but have the potential for military application.
• The Department of State's International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR) (also known as the U.S. Munitions List) which covers defense-related items and services.
• The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Regulations OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions that have been imposed against specific countries based on reasons of foreign policy, national security, or international agreements. A list of all countries currently subject to boycott programs is available at the OFAC website.  NOTE: UC has secured OFAC licenses for research in embargoed countries. However, it can be a lengthy process.

Because the University embraces the concepts of academic freedom and open publication and dissemination of research findings and results, the export control regulations present unique challenges. Fortunately, both the EAR and the ITAR exclude fundamental research from the requirements of the regulations. Fundamental research is defined as "basic and applied research in science and engineering conducted at an institution of higher learning in the United States where the resulting information is ordinarily published and shared broadly within the scientific community, as distinguished from research the results of which are restricted for proprietary reasons or specific U.S. Government access and dissemination controls." Information which is publicly available also is excluded from the purview of the export control regulations. To guarantee the application of these exclusions, researchers should publish their findings to the fullest extent possible and should not agree to confidentiality clauses or other terms that restrict the dissemination of research materials and results.

The fundamental research and public domain exclusions do not apply to tangible items that are being taken or shipped outside of the U.S. In such cases, those items must be analyzed to determine whether they are subject to export controls. For assistance with this process and with obtaining an export license if necessary, please contact exportcontrol@research.ucsb.edu. The process of obtaining an export license from the government can be lengthy, so please plan accordingly.