UO employees may encounter terminology when working with Export Controls and navigating U.S. export control regulations. This page offers helpful definitions, and employees are welcome to email the Export Control Officer with questions.

Deemed Export

A deemed export is when software, technology, or other export-controlled information is shared through visual (such as reading technical specifications, plans, or blueprints), oral, written or other inspection with a foreign person who is currently within the U.S. The export is "deemed" to take place in the foreign person's home country or last country of citizenship.

Common examples of deemed exports on campus include:

• Sharing information with a foreign person by email or in a conversation
• A foreign person participating in certain kinds of research
• A foreign person touring a laboratory with equipment subject to Export Administration Regulations (EAR)

Development Technology

Development technology refers to unpublished or disclosure-restricted information or software source code (binary code is okay) required prior to serial production, such as design, design research, design analyses, design concepts, assembly and testing of prototypes, pilot production schemes, design data, process of transforming design data into a product, configuration design, integration design, and/or layouts.

Dual Use

A dual-use item is an items, information, or software that is primarily commercial or civil in nature, but could also have terrorism- or military-related applications.

The Export Administration Regulation identifies dual-use items on its Commerce Control List (CCL) and gives these items an Export Control Classification Number (ECCN). Dual-use items that are subject to regulation, but are not identified on the CCL are classified as "EAR99." Dual-use items may require an export license depending on the item, the recipient, the recipient's citizenship or country of destination, and the item's application.

Export

An export is an actual shipment or transmission of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to a foreign country or a release of items, software, or information subject to the EAR to a foreign person in the U.S. A shipment can include hand carrying items on airplane during travel. 

An export-controlled tangible item, software, or information being sent or taken out of the U.S. is also referred to as an "export."

Export License

An export license is written authorization from the relevant U.S. government agency for an export to occur. The need for a license depends on the item, the recipient, the final destination, and the end use.

Foreign Person

A foreign person is a person who is not a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., citizen of the U.S., or any other protected individual. Examples of foreign persons are students, researchers, or other scholars who are in at the UO on an F-1, J-1, H-1B, B-1/B-2, or ESTA visa.

A foreign person could also refer to any foreign corporation, business association, partnership, or any other entity or group not incorporated to do business in the U.S. Foreign persons may include international organizations, foreign governments, and any agency or subdivision of foreign governments, such as consulates.

Fundamental Research

Fundamental research refers to basic and applied research in which the results are published and shared broadly in the research community and for which the researchers or the UO have not accepted restrictions for proprietary or national security reasons. 

The concept of "fundamental research" was established by National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 189. NSDD 189 defines fundamental research as:

"Basic and applied research in science and engineering where the resulting information is to be shared broadly within the scientific community, as distinguished from proprietary research and from industrial development, design, production, and product utilization, the results of which ordinarily are restricted for proprietary or national security reasons."

NSDD 189 intends that the conduct and informational products of fundamental research should not be fettered by deemed export restrictions. It also states that research for which the results are subject to dissemination or foreign national access restrictions does not qualify as fundamental research outside the scope of U.S. export control regulations.

Because export regulations expressly recognize that the conduct and informational products of fundamental research are excluded from deemed export controls, export licenses or other government approval is generally not needed before involving foreign persons in fundamental research activity at UO.

However, such research may give rise to export issues if 1) the primary research is to be conducted outside of the U.S; 2) it requires foreign-person access to ITAR-listed items and technical data; or 3) it requires foreign person access to disclosure-restricted technical information or software code generated by third parties such as defense contractors, commercial vendors, or collaborators.

ITAR-listed Items

Items, information, and software “specifically designed, developed, configured adapted, or modified” for a military, spacecraft, or intelligence application are controlled by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) governed by the U.S. Department of State. These items, information, and software are identified on the ITAR's U.S. Munitions List. ITAR-listed items that are not the tangible products of university fundamental research generally require a license for access and use by all foreign persons.

Production Technology

Production technology refers to unpublished or disclosure-restricted information or software source code (binary code is okay) required in production stages, such as product engineering, manufacturing, integration, assembly (mounting), inspection, testing, and/or quality assurance.

Re-export

Re-export refers to an actual shipment or transmission of items, software, or information subject to export control regulations from one foreign country to another foreign country.

The export or re-export of controlled tangible items, software, or information that will transit through a country or countries; will be unloaded in a country or countries for reloading and shipment to a new country; or are intended for re-export to the new country are deemed to be exports to the new country.

U.S. Person

A U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. (a “Green Card” holder), and a refugee or someone with another protected political asylee or under amnesty are considered U.S. persons. U.S. persons also include organizations and entities, such as universities, incorporated in the U.S.

Use Technology

Use technology refers to unpublished or disclosure-restricted dual-use information or software source code (binary code is okay) required for the “operation, installation, maintenance, repair, overhaul, and refurbishing” of an item or software. If technology released to a foreign national for use of an item or software does not meet all of these attributes, then it does not qualify as “use technology.”