New Clarifying Language to be Included on BIS Export and Reexport Licenses
In an effort to make export and reexport licenses more clear, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced today that the following notice will appear on all new licenses authorizing the export, reexport and in-country transfer of goods, technology and software subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR):
Unless limited by a condition set forth below, the export, reexport or transfer (in-country) authorized by this license is for the item(s), end-use(s), and parties described in the license application and any letters of explanation. The applicant is responsible for informing the other parties identified on the license, such as ultimate consignees and end-users, of the license’s scope and of the specific conditions applicable to them. BIS has granted this license in reliance on representations the applicant made in the license application, letters of explanation, and other documents submitted.BIS stated that this change is intended to "rationalize and make more consistent the use of conditions on BIS licenses" and to "eliminate, to the greatest extent possible, the inclusion of requirements and prohibitions included in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) as conditions on validated licenses."
BIS is eliminating such conditions because they are already applicable to all exports, reexports and in-country transfer of items subject to the EAR by operation of law. Express reference to such conditions, therefore is redundant.
This is illustrated by the following conditions included on a BIS export license that was recently issued for "600 series" parts and components:
- Applicant must inform consignee of all license conditions.
- For stated end-use only
- No resale, transfer, or reexport of the items listed on this license is authorized without prior authorization by the U.S. Government.
In making this change, BIS hopes to eliminate the confusion caused from having expressly referenced in the license some requirements and/or prohibitions of the EAR but not others. BIS was concerned that exporters might infer erroneously that those provisions not expressly identified were not applicable to the licensed transaction.
BIS also hopes this change clarifies the scope of issued licenses given that the new language specifies that the license authorizes only the transaction requested by the license applicant.
License applicants interested in receiving authorization to ship items other than those listed on their license applications must either request that their license applications be returned for correction or submit an additional license application. Exporters may, in limited circumstances, continue to avail themselves of the EAR's provisions on non-material changes to a license, which remain unchanged.
|posted by Douglas N. Jacobson| Permalink 
