Export Controls

Compliance with Export Controls has become one of the hottest topics among research administrators across organizational settings. This two day meeting track is designed for recent export control officers as well as the more experienced compliance officer struggling with some of the vagueness and expansiveness of the regulations.

Day One will begin with an overview of the regulations, and quickly drop into such topics as recognizing and negotiating contract clauses that trigger export control requirements; and the importance of determining export jurisdiction and classification.

Day Two will examine the process for assessing your institution’s export compliance risk and the hallmarks of a robust compliance program.

An Overview of Export Control Laws: EAR, ITAR and OFAC

February 28, 2013 - 10:30 AM-Noon

Exports of goods, services, and technology are controlled by regulations administered by the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. These export controls and sanctions regulations are designed to protect the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States. This session will introduce the various regulations and explore some risk areas and common compliance issues that may arise, both internally and when partnering with persons or entities outside of the university/research environment.

Goals:
1. To understand why compliance with export controls and sanctions regulations is important;
2. To understand the basic premise behind and the goals of these regulations;
3. To explore real-world examples of potential compliance issues; and
4. To gain familiarity with the resources available to research administrators.

Contracted Research: Export and Fundamental Research Clauses

February 28, 2013 - 1:00-2:30 PM

Whether research is subject to export controls or treated as fundamental research that is not subject to the jurisdiction of the ITAR or EAR is often driven by the clauses in the contract, grant, or other funding instrument for the research. This session will define fundamental research and public domain information, describe the language that can trigger export control requirements, discuss the practical impact of fundamental research exclusion on industry versus universities, and the challenges of industry and university collaboration. The presenters will also discuss strategies for negotiating contracts with sponsors to limit the application of export control requirements to appropriate projects.

Goals:
1. To understand the concept of fundamental research as defined in the export control regulations;
2. To identify contract language that can trigger export control requirements;
3. To understand the practical impact of the fundamental research exclusion on industry versus universities and the challenges of industry and university collaboration; and
4. To develop strategies for negotiating export clauses in contracts and other funding instruments.

Determining Export Jurisdiction & Classification

February 28, 2013 - 3:00-4:30 PM

The first, and arguably most important step in export compliance is determining the “jurisdiction” of any product, data, or service resulting from your research or other activities; that is, whether it is controlled by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations or the Export Administration Regulations, or falls outside of the scope of these regulations. This determination is the key to understanding the export requirements associated with your activity, whether export licenses are needed, exemptions or exceptions are available, and which U.S. Government agency has cognizance over your activities. This session will focus on exploring the jurisdiction of the ITAR and the EAR, walk through the process for determining which regulation governs research activities, and discuss practical methods or addressing this crucial compliance step.

Goals:
1. To understand the jurisdiction of the ITAR and the EAR;
2. To understand the criteria for determining jurisdiction; and
3. To identify practical steps and best practices for addressing jurisdictional determinations.

Conducting an Export Risk Assessment

March 1, 2013 - 10:30 AM-Noon

Management of export controls is an exercise in risk management. This session will explore the institutional characteristics that affect export control compliance risks. The associated risks will be discussed in the framework of the regulatory environment. This information may be used to perform an initial and ongoing risk assessment that can be used to prioritize resource allocation and inform the institutional export compliance program.

Goals:
1. To identify institutional characteristics that impact export control compliance risks; and
2. To understand what export control compliance risks may exist regardless of institutional characteristics.

Compliance Program Best Practices

March 1, 2013 - 1:00-2:30 PM

The key to successfully managing export compliance at any institution is a robust, targeted export compliance program. This session will present the critical elements of a compliance program, discuss the relative importance of each of those elements at a research institution and provide practical guidance on program implementation from seasoned export professionals and private practitioners.

Goals:
1. To understand the core elements of an effective export compliance program; and
2. To explore best practices for implementation of export compliance practices.

SPEAKERS

David Brady
Director and Facility Security Officer, Office of Export and Secure Research Compliance
Virginia Tech

Larry Fink

Vice President for Legal, Director of International Trade Compliance and Senior Counsel
SAIC

Jahna Hartwig

Partner

Williams Mullen

Kelly Hochstetler

Director, Office of Export Controls

University of Virginia

Jeremy Huffman

Founder and Partner

Huffman Riley & Kao PLLC

Michael Miller

Assistant Director for Export Compliance & Export Compliance Officer

University of Central Florida

Elizabeth Peloso

Vice President/ Associate Vice Provost for Research Services

University of Pennsylvania

Lori Scheetz

Associate

Wiley Rein LLC

Each day begins at 8:30 AM with a Plenary Session and ends at 5:00 PM with Question and Answers. Please see Schedule for more details.

Recap with Questions and Answers

March 1, 2013 - 3:00-5:00 PM