Importing and exporting is a complex issue when the traded material is arms, weapons, and security products. Many companies must follow the ITAR regulations to make the import and export of defense articles and defense services compliant with the laws and regulations. If the company fails to comply with the regulations, it might face serious consequences like negative impact on the brand name, cancellation of the export authorizations and debarment. So, the companies who are trading overseas should comply with the ITAR regulations.
Trade Compliance: What Does It Mean?
ITAR stands for the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. As an implementation of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) these regulations were first enacted in the year of 1976. The companies going for export have to receive authorization from the US government before exporting the products. In the last few years, the ITAR enforcement has grown dramatically. The companies who produce, broker and export defense articles and services that are listed on the United States Munitions List should register with the U.S. Department of State – Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) and obtain license/authorization before exporting any of those items to the foreign countries.
Maintaining perfect compliance with the US ITAR compliance regulations and determining the export license are some of the important steps of a company. Even here is no export of arms taking place, all the military products should be checked under the regulation list and safeguarding the technical data against the access of the illegal persons is also crucial. Export license is always needed for the companies to export items of defense. These regulations are also needed for commercial and military functions. Most of the contractors and exporters need their business to be ITAR compliant. All the exporters and the manufacturers those who are related to the defense services should comply with these regulations.
The experienced compliance consultants evaluate projects and every transaction and help the companies in this complicated world of arms regulations.
Some of jurisdictions of this regulation are-
- Reviewing the technology and all the materials of applicable controls.
- Technology control planning and implementation.
- Guidance on license need analysis.
- Commodity Jurisdiction (CJ) analysis assistance.
- Application for the export licenses and other authorizations to the DDTC.
Aspects that make Trade Compliance Effective
The compliance program is a costly one to operate. The companies those have minimum knowledge on the trade compliance may face bad results like losing the export license, criminal penalties and fines. The various areas need to be addressed are-
- Corporate Commitment
The compliance programs should identify commitments to meetings and maintaining the trade regulation guidelines. This program should comprise of persons who are responsible for overseeing the program and describing the commitment.
- Record Maintenance Program
The record maintenance system should contain retention periods of the trade, secured storage areas and backups of the electronic records.
Export classification, ITAR compliance and restricted party screening are some of the essential objectives that help in ensuring complete trade compliance.
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