Economic International Legal Considerations Essays - Identifiers

Economic International Legal Considerations Essays - Identifiers Economic International Legal Considerations International Legal Considerations This chapter covers a wide range of regulations, procedures, and practices that fall into three categories: regulations that exporters must follow to comply with U.S. law; procedures that exporters should follow to ensure a successful export transaction; and programs and certain tax procedures that open new markets or provide financial benefits to exporters. Export Regulations General Introduction The Export Administration Regulations (EAR) regulate the export and reexport of items for national security, nonproliferation, foreign policy, and short supply reasons. The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) has taken important steps to remove unnecessary obstacles to exporting, including completion of U.S. regulatory reform effort and export control liberalizations. Working closely with the exporting community, BXA has simplified the EAR, especially for those companies new to exporting. In addition, export controls have been liberalized on many products sold by U.S. companies around the world, consistent with national security and foreign policy concerns. A relatively small percentage of exports and reexports requires the submission of a license application to BXA. License requirements are dependent upon an item's technical characteristics, the destination, the end use, and the end user. Determining whether a license is required for export is easier under the newly drafted regulations which consolidate license requirements previously scattered throughout the regulations. Once a classification has been determined, exporters may use a single chart to determine if licenses are needed for a country. The revised regulations include answers to frequently asked questions, detailed step-by-step instructions for finding out if a transaction is subject to the regulations, how to request a commodity classification or advisory opinion, and how to apply for a license. The EAR groups items (commodities, software, and technology) into ten categories each containing several entries. These entries are the Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCN). These entries are in Supplemental N0. 1 to part 774 of the EAR, which is the Commerce Control List (CCL). The CCL and the Country Chart, Supplement No. 1 to part 738 taken together, define items subject to export controls based solely on the technical parameters of the item and the country of ultimate destination. Items that are listed on the CCL but do not require a license by reason of the Country Chart and items classified as EAR99 (see 734.3(c) of the EAR entitled Scope of the EAR) are designated as NLR, or no license required. All countries are not treated in the same way under the EAR because different countries present different national security, nonproliferation, or foreign policy considerations for the United States. A license requirement may be based on the end use or end user in a transaction, primarily for proliferation reasons. Part 744 of the EAR describes such requirements and relevant licensing policies and includes both restrictions on items and restrictions on the activities of U.S. persons. The EAR covers more than exports. Items subject to the EAR are generally controlled for reexport from one foreign country to another. A relatively small percentage of exports and reexports requires an application to BXA for a license. Many items are not on the CCL or, if on the CCL, require a license only to a limited number of countries. Other transactions may be covered by one or more License Exceptions in the EAR, part 740. However, a license is required for virtually all exports to embargoed destinations such as Cuba. Part 746 of the EAR describes embargoed destinations and refers to certain additional controls imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Controls of the Treasury Department. Sometimes the EAR are referred to as dual use regulations. The term dual use refers to items that can be used for both military and other strategic uses (e.g., nuclear) and commercial applications. It also refers to items with solely civil uses. The term is also used to distinguish the scope of the EAR from items covered by the regulations of other agencies. For example, the U.S. Department of State controls exports of weapons and military related items on the U.S. Munitions List, while the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission control certain items for nuclear reasons. For more information on the control of agencies other than BXA, see Supplement No. 3