State Department Requests OMB Approval for Form DS-4071 (To Allow Direct Electronic Reporting of Defense Technical Data and Defense Services Exports)
The State Department has published a notice in the Federal Register requesting comments on its submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval of Form DS-4071, entitled "Export Declaration of Defense Technical Data or Services," which will allow exporters to electronically report directly to the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) the actual export of defense technical data and defense services.
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Facsimile of DS-4071 and Instructions Available on DDTC Web Site
DDTC has also posted a notice regarding the DS-4071 to its Web site. According to this notice, a facsimile of the DS-4071 and instructions for its completion are available on DDTC's Web site.
DDTC states that a functional version of the form will be available once certain technical details regarding the information collection are finalized and specific guidance on use of the electronic filing of export data directly to DDTC will be published on the DDTC Web site once development of this system is finished.
When DS-4071 is Mandatory, Direct Electronic Notification to DDTC will be Required
DDTC states that when its system (DS-4071) becomes mandatory, direct electronic notification to DDTC shall be required when the initial export/transfer of technical data and services is made pursuant to a license or an agreement.
A copy of the notification to DDTC shall also be made available to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), upon request, for shipments of technical data when using a U.S. Port (e.g., hand carried exports of technical data).
(Exports of technical data or defense services using an exemption need not be notified to DDTC at this time, unless the export is made through a U.S. Port. DDTC states that it anticipates requiring notification for exports using an exemption in the future through publication of a separate Federal Register notice. Pursuant to existing requirements under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), exporters should continue to maintain records of shipments using exemptions and make these records available to DDTC upon request.)
Until DS-4071 Becomes Mandatory, Current Practices Will be Retained
DDTC states that until use of DS-4071 becomes mandatory, it will retain the current practices for the reporting of exports of technical data and services.
That is, for reporting exports of technical data that is licensed on a DSP-5, the applicant must decrement the initial export on the original of the Form DSP-5 and return the license to DDTC. Any additional exports of the licensed technical data (i.e. the transaction must be identical, including the end use and end users) would be the subject of the exemption in Section 125.4 of the ITAR.
For reporting on agreements, the initial export of technical data and defense services using an agreement will be by letter. For ease in handling these requests, the letter should have an attention line reading "ATTN: Initial Export Notification for Agreement [insert agreement number]."
Should the applicant need to export technical data using a U.S. Port (e.g. hand carry), the exporter should present to CBP a copy of this letter upon request and one copy should be immediately sent to DDTC consistent with the current ITAR requirement.
(In October 2003, the State Department published a final rule that amended the ITAR to indicate that exporters that are required to report shippers export information for U.S. Munitions List (USML) hardware must use the Automated Export System (AES) and export information for USML technical data and defense services shall be reported electronically to DDTC. (See ITT's Online Archives or 02/05/04 news, 04020520, for the final part of BP's series of summaries on the State Department's October 2003 final rule, with link to earlier parts.)
- Written comments on this information collection may be submitted for up to 30 days from February 7, 2005.
DDTC information collection notice (FR Pub 01/06/05, Public Notice 4952) available at
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20051800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2005/pdf/05-274.pdf.
DDTC Web site notice, including links to a facsimile DS-4071 and instructions for its completion, available at http://www.pmdtc.org/aes.htm.