DDTC Publishes Final Rule Requiring CJs to be Submitted Electronically Using DS-4076 Form

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) published a final rule in today's Federal Register amending the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) that will require commodity jurisdiction (CJ) determinations to be submitted electronically using the DS-4076 CJ Determination Request Form that was introduced by DDTC last year.

The regulation specifies that paper CJs may be submitted for 29 days after the effective date, which means that  September 2, 2010 will be the last day to submit CJs the old fashioned way. Starting on September 3, however, CJs will have to be submitted electronically via DTrade2, DDTC's defense export electronic licensing system.

DDTC has yet to make any changes to the DS-4076 CJ form to incorporate the suggestions submitted by industry during the public comment period.

Determining the proper government agency that has jurisdiction over products, technology or software to be exported is an important first step in the U.S. export controls system.

The purpose of submitting a CJ to DDTC is to obtain a determination whether a product, technical data or service is covered by the U.S. Munitions List (USML) and is subject to the ITAR's export licensing requirements or not.
 A commodity classification (commonly known as a CCATS) can be obtained from the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to determine the proper Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) if the CJ determination states that the article is subject to the Commerce Department's jurisdiction.