Consolidated Screening List (CSL)

The Consolidated Screening List (CSL) is a single, merged database maintained by the US Department of Commerce (via trade.gov) that combines the restricted- and denied-party lists published separately by the Departments of Commerce, State, and the Treasury. Instead of checking each agency’s list one at a time, an institution can screen a name once against the CSL and get a match against every contributing list simultaneously.

What lists the CSL consolidates

As described on trade.gov, the CSL pulls together lists from three federal departments:

• Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS): the Denied Persons List, Entity List, Unverified List, and Military End-User List.
• Department of State: the AECA Debarred List (parties barred from participating in defense-article exports administered by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls) and the Nonproliferation Sanctions list.
• Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC): the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List plus OFAC’s other sanctions-related lists (for example the Foreign Sanctions Evaders List and Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List).

Each list has its own legal basis and consequence for a match — an EAR licensing requirement, an ITAR debarment, or an OFAC sanctions prohibition are not interchangeable — but the CSL lets an institution run one search and then determine, list by list, which regime a hit actually falls under. Trade.gov states the underlying source lists are refreshed daily (5:00 a.m. ET/EDT).

Why research institutions use it

University export control, sponsored programs, and research security offices use the CSL as a due-diligence screening tool before entering into activities that could put the institution in an unauthorized transaction with a restricted party. Typical screening points include:

• Onboarding a foreign national visiting scholar, postdoc, or graduate student who will access controlled equipment, software, or technical data.
• Vetting a prospective international collaborator, subrecipient, or foreign institution before executing a subaward, material transfer agreement, or research collaboration agreement.
• Screening a vendor or shipping destination before exporting controlled equipment or technical data abroad.
• Confirming a foreign sponsor, gift source, or contracting party isn’t a sanctioned or denied party, alongside the institution’s broader foreign-influence and research-security disclosure obligations.

The CSL is searchable directly at trade.gov/consolidated-screening-list and via the CSL Search tool and a public API (data.commerce.gov), which is how most institutional screening software and denied-party screening vendors pull their underlying data rather than building separate feeds from each agency.

How it relates to other export/sanctions tools

The CSL is a consolidation layer, not a separate legal regime — a CSL match still has to be traced back to the source list and the regulation behind it:

• A hit against a BIS list ties back to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the Commerce Control List.
• A hit against the AECA Debarred List ties back to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
• A hit against an OFAC list ties back to the specific sanctions program OFAC is enforcing (country-based or list-based).

The CSL does not include the federal procurement debarment/suspension list maintained on SAM.gov — that’s a separate exclusion mechanism under 2 CFR Part 180 governing eligibility for federal awards and contracts, not export/sanctions restricted-party status. A thorough pre-award or pre-collaboration due-diligence check typically screens both the CSL and SAM.gov Exclusions, since they answer different questions.

Examples

A research office preparing to send a visiting-scholar invitation letter runs the prospective scholar’s name through the CSL as part of its standard onboarding checklist; a clean screen (no match on any contributing list) clears that step of the review, though export control classification of the specific research activity is still assessed separately.

A sponsored programs office vetting a proposed foreign subrecipient on an international collaborative grant screens the subrecipient institution’s name against the CSL before executing the subaward agreement, as part of the same due-diligence pass that also checks SAM.gov exclusions and, where applicable, restricted-party guidance tied to research security disclosure requirements.

What it is not

A clean CSL screen is not, by itself, a determination that a research activity or piece of equipment is free of export control obligations. The CSL only tells an institution whether a specific party appears on a restricted-party list; whether a given item, software, or technical data is controlled at all is a separate classification question governed by the EAR and ITAR, and whether a funding source or foreign sponsor triggers a research-security or foreign-influence disclosure obligation is a separate compliance question again.

Related terms

• ITAR and EAR
• Export-controlled research
• Technology Control Plan (TCP)
• Debarment and suspension verification (SAM.gov)
• CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in US)
• Guide: Export Control (EAR/ITAR) and International Research Collaboration

Frequently Asked Questions

What lists does the Consolidated Screening List combine?

The CSL merges restricted- and denied-party lists published separately by the Departments of Commerce, State, and the Treasury. From Commerce/BIS it includes the Denied Persons List, Entity List, Unverified List, and Military End-User List; from the Department of State it includes the AECA Debarred List and the Nonproliferation Sanctions list; from Treasury/OFAC it includes the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List plus other OFAC sanctions lists such as the Foreign Sanctions Evaders List and Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List.

How often is the CSL updated?

Trade.gov states that the underlying source lists feeding the CSL are refreshed daily, at 5:00 a.m. ET/EDT.

Is the Consolidated Screening List the same as the BIS Entity List?

No. The BIS Entity List is only one of the lists folded into the CSL. The CSL also includes BIS’s Denied Persons, Unverified, and Military End-User lists, the State Department’s AECA Debarred and Nonproliferation Sanctions lists, and OFAC’s SDN and other sanctions lists. Searching the CSL checks all of these at once rather than the Entity List alone, though a hit still has to be traced back to the specific source list to know which regulation applies.

Does the CSL cover the SAM.gov exclusions list?

No. The CSL is an export- and sanctions-focused restricted-party tool and does not include the federal procurement debarment/suspension list maintained on SAM.gov, which is a separate exclusion mechanism under 2 CFR Part 180 governing eligibility for federal awards and contracts. A thorough pre-award or pre-collaboration due-diligence check typically screens both the CSL and SAM.gov Exclusions, since they answer different questions.

Is there a public API for the Consolidated Screening List?

Yes. Beyond the search interface at trade.gov/consolidated-screening-list, the CSL is also available through a public API (data.commerce.gov), which is how most institutional screening software and denied-party screening vendors pull the underlying data rather than building separate feeds from each contributing agency.

Who typically needs to screen against the CSL?

Research institutions commonly use CSL screening as a due-diligence step before onboarding a foreign national visiting scholar, postdoc, or graduate student who will access controlled equipment or technical data; before vetting a prospective international collaborator or subrecipient ahead of a subaward or material transfer agreement; before exporting controlled equipment or technical data to a vendor or destination abroad; and to confirm a foreign sponsor or gift source isn’t a sanctioned or denied party.