Overview of EAR and ITAR

*This resource was created by the University of Maryland

Office of Research Administration and Advancement (ORAA)

It is the policy of the Oklahoma State University System that instruction, research, and services will be accomplished openly and without prohibitions on the publication and dissemination of the results of academic and research activities.

Federal regulations promulgated and enforced by the Department of Commerce, Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and the Department of State, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), prohibit the unlicensed export of specific technologies for reasons of national security or protection of trade. If University research involves such specified technologies, the EAR and/or ITAR may require the University to obtain prior approval from State or Commerce before allowing foreign nationals to participate in the research, partnering with a foreign company and/or sharing research—verbally or in writing—with persons who are not United States citizens or permanent resident aliens.

Export control regulations have the potential to harm the quality of University research, undermine publication rights, and prohibit international collaboration if the dissemination of University research is not placed in the public domain and does not qualify for the fundamental research exclusion (see below). The consequences of violating these regulations can be quite severe, ranging from loss of research contracts to monetary penalties to jail time for the individual violating these regulations.

The University is working with the Council on Government Relations (COGR), the Association of American Universities (AAU), and other nationally recognized research universities to exclude all fundamental university research from export regulation. Until such time as those efforts are successful, the Office of University Research Services (OURS) and Principal Investigator should conduct a thorough review of research projects and contract provisions to determine whether and, if so how, a particular research project is impacted by those regulations. Principal Investigators have the following responsibilities:

• prior to commencing any research, to review and cooperate with OURS to determine whether their research is impacted by the controls or requirements contained within export regulations, and
• to re-evaluate that determination before changing the scope or adding new staff to the project to determine if such changes alter the initial determination; and
• to make export determinations far enough in advance to obtain an authorization, should one be required.

The University will assist PIs in assessing the application of such regulations, but primary compliance responsibility rests with the principal investigator of the research.

This document is intended to promote understanding of and compliance with the regulations by all persons involved in research. If you have questions about how the export regulations apply to specific research, please feel free to contact Jada Bruner Gailey, Director of University Research Programs, Office of University Research Services at x49995, jada.gailey@okstate.edu.