Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A piece of dual-use laboratory instrumentation or specialized software with both civilian and military applications is generally governed by the EAR, classified against the Commerce Control List with an ECCN, and administered by BIS.
- Is an instance
Technical data tied to a defense article on the US Munitions List (for example, certain guidance, propulsion, or sensor technologies) falls under ITAR and is administered by the State Department's DDTC, regardless of whether the university itself holds a defense contract.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
Basic or applied research intended for open publication, involving no defense article, no dual-use item, and no sponsor-imposed publication or access restriction, generally falls outside both EAR and ITAR entirely under the fundamental research exclusion built into each regulation.
- Not an instance
Country- or entity-based sanctions programs administered by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) are a related but distinct set of US restrictions -- they govern transactions with sanctioned countries, persons, or entities, not the classification of specific defense or dual-use items the way EAR and ITAR do.
Editorial commentary
ITAR and EAR are the two parallel US federal regimes that most commonly apply to export control in a research setting, and are frequently referenced together because a given controlled item, technology, or technical data set falls under one or the other — not both. The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), codified at 22 CFR Parts 120–130, are administered by the Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) and control defense articles, defense services, and related technical data listed on the US Munitions List (USML). The Export Administration Regulations (EAR), codified at 15 CFR Parts 730–774, are administered by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and control “dual-use” items — those with civil applications as well as military, terrorism, or weapons-of-mass-destruction-related applications — listed on the Commerce Control List (CCL) and classified by an Export Control Classification Number (ECCN).
Jurisdiction is item-specific, not institution-specific: a research institution with no defense contracts at all can still be handling ITAR-controlled technical data if a piece of equipment, software, or specification it uses is on the USML, and can separately be handling EAR-controlled dual-use items unrelated to that. Research institutions typically maintain an export control office (with a designated Empowered Official for ITAR matters) to make jurisdictional and classification determinations rather than leaving the call to individual researchers. Both regulations build in a fundamental research exclusion, rooted in NSDD-189 (1985), for basic and applied research intended for open publication — which is why most federally funded university research never triggers either regime in the first place. See Fundamental research exemption for how that exclusion works and what forfeits it, Deemed export for how EAR/ITAR apply to foreign nationals working inside a US lab, and Export-controlled research for the broader operational definition of when a project is controlled at all. The practical compliance steps for running an international collaboration under EAR/ITAR — classification review, restricted-party screening, contract-clause review, and Technology Control Plans — are covered in the guide Export Control (EAR/ITAR) and International Research Collaboration.
References
- Export Administration Regulations, 15 CFR Parts 730–774, administered by the Bureau of Industry and Security, US Department of Commerce.
- International Traffic in Arms Regulations, 22 CFR Parts 120–130, administered by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, US Department of State.
Also known as
EAR/ITAR · US export control regulations · dual-use and defense export control regimes
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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