The Department of Commerce Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the Department of State International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) prohibit the export of specific unlicensed technologies for reasons of national security or for the protection of trade. Similarly, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) administers and enforces boycotts that have been imposed against specific countries for reasons of foreign policy, national security, or based upon international agreements.
Export control regulations, as well as boycott programs, have the potential to impact many aspects of the freedoms typically associated with research in a university setting. Publication rights, international collaboration, sending or bringing research equipment to foreign countries, and the sharing of research technology (verbally, in writing or visually) with persons who are not United States citizens or permanent resident aliens can be severely restricted. The consequences of violating export control regulations can be quite severe, ranging from loss of research contracts, to monetary penalties, to jail time for the individual violating these regulations.
University research projects will be regulated under export control regulations:
- when restrictive language appears in contracts or grants that destroys the fundamental research exclusion (defined below); or
- when access by foreign nationals (including faculty, staff, graduate or undergraduate students, or visitors) to controlled technologies used in the research is restricted or prohibited.