If your company is an exporter of defense articles listed on the United States Munitions List (“USML“) and require a Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) license, you should be aware of recent events with certain international freight forwarders that could impact your supply chain.
As of February 16, 2012, several prominent international freight forwarders who pleaded guilty to federal antitrust charges were added to the Excluded Party List System by the US Government, and they are now unable to participate in defense trade without their individual transactions pre-approved by DDTC.
According to a guidance issued by DDTC, exporters can ship under current licenses listing these freight forwarders that were approved before February 24. Applications received by DDTC as of February 18 will be processed in the normal course. However, applications submitted after February 18 that name any of these freight forwarders and do not contain a transaction exception will be returned without action, unless a transaction exception request was filed by February 27. Going forward, transaction exception requests will be required for all future licensing applications that name any of the implicated freight forwarders.
DDTC’s web guidance notes that transaction exception requests should explain, among other things, “why the applicant is unable to utilize a different freight forwarder”. The DDTC does not typically act promptly on transaction exception requests. Therefore, even if approved, the submission of a transaction exception request is likely to delay the approval of DDTC licensing applications involving these freight forwarders.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO
If you are exporting any defense articles that require DDTC licensing, you should determine if any of the freight forwarders you use are listed on the most recent guidance dated February 27.
Exceptions are needed if your forwarder is listed. If you do not have an exception, your license will not be approved, and you will need to find a different forwarder for the license.
HOW MIQ LOGISTICS CAN HELP
The MIQ Logistics Washington D.C. office specializes in supporting customers who are shipping materials for which a license or approval is required by the ITAR for export. The MIQ Logistics Washington D.C. office is located at 44600 Guilford Drive,STE 170, Ashburn, VA.
If you have any questions on the impact to your supply chain and how to properly proceed, you can contact the MIQ Logistics Washington D.C. office: MIQ_WashingtonDC@miq.com or 1-571-223-2406, or you can contact your local MIQ Logistics office. Our team of global logistics professionals, compliance experts and consulting subject matter advisors work together to ensure your defense-related programs adhere to all applicable export control procedures.