Under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), technical data includes information required for the design, development, production, manufacture, assembly, operation, repair, testing, maintenance or modification of defense articles 1.
Sharing can be an export even without leaving the country. Under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), any release in the United States of "technology" or source code to a foreign person is a deemed export to the foreign person's most recent country of citizenship or permanent residency 2.
Defense contracts add their own label. The DFARS safeguarding clause defines controlled technical information as technical information with military or space application that is subject to controls on the access, use, reproduction, modification, performance, display, release, disclosure or dissemination 3.
Contract clauses and registration
Defense contracts that include the export-controlled items clause require the contractor to comply with all applicable laws and regulations regarding export-controlled items 4. The same clause says the contractor shall consult with the Department of State regarding any questions relating to compliance with the ITAR, and with the Department of Commerce regarding any questions relating to compliance with the EAR 5.
Under the ITAR, any person who engages in the United States in the business of manufacturing or exporting or temporarily importing defense articles, or furnishing defense services, is required to register with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls 6.
DLA technical data
For DLA work, Bids2Bank stores your own JCP and EJCP details, which it does not verify with DLA 7. On DIBBS pages it warns that export-controlled technical data needs a current JCP certification and EJCP certificate 8 when either is expired or within 30 days of expiring 9.
Record your JCP and EJCP dates →
Worked example. Contractor U receives a drawing for a military vehicle part with an export-control warning on it. A new engineer on its team is a foreign national. Before anyone shares the drawing, Contractor U restricts the file to U.S.-person staff and asks its export counsel whether a license is needed.
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