Export restrictions are limits or prohibitions on exporting items to certain countries or individuals, set by government bodies. They may be imposed for foreign policy or economic reasons, and certain types of items are heavily regulated. Individuals or nations may be classified as blocked, unverified, or denied.
An export restriction is a prohibition on exporting items to a particular country or individual or a limit on the quantity of an item that can be exported to that country or individual. Export restrictions are usually set by government bodies and are imposed on individuals or companies who wish to export goods outside their home country. For example, in the United States, export restrictions for most commercial products are set by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the Department of Commerce. The export restriction on defense items is mandated by the US Department of State. Sometimes, the items that can or cannot be exported are determined by a country’s foreign policy, and the lists of countries or commodities where export restrictions are imposed are subject to change.
Individuals classified by governments as leaders of enemy nations, terrorist associates, enemy combatants or narcotics traffickers may have an export restriction imposed on them. These individuals are generally classified as blocked, unverified, or denied by the country that governs its export rules. The US Department of Commerce maintains a list of these people, and exporters can usually determine whether an individual they want to export items to is on these lists. It is illegal to export goods to blocked or denied persons. If an exporter verifies the identity of a person designated as Unverified, and that person is not determined to be a threat to the host country, the goods may be exported to them.
An export restriction can be levied against foreign nations as a form of economic sanction. US exporters are generally prohibited from shipping goods to countries such as Cuba, Iran or North Korea. In other cases, nations will impose economic restrictions on a foreign nation. In that case, most items cannot be exported to these countries, but food, medicine and humanitarian aid can still be shipped. In other cases, an export restriction is sometimes lifted by governments to facilitate economic or governmental changes in enemy nations. For example, the United States agreed to allow exporters to ship Internet technology to Iran, Sudan, and Cuba in 2010, in the hope that Internet access and the free flow of information would help facilitate regime change in those nations.
Certain types of items may have export restrictions placed on them. Electronic components and computers typically cannot be shipped to certain nations or individuals because these items can be disassembled and reassembled for certain military uses. Items related to telecommunications, navigation and propulsion systems are also heavily regulated by national export laws. The quantity of these goods exported, the individual or country they are being exported to, and the intended use of the goods must often be documented with the government before they can be exported.
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