First Export Under BIS License Exception STA Takes Place

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security has indicated that the first export from the U.S. under new License Exception STA (Strategic Trade Authorization) recently took place.

The U.S. export made under License Exception STA included products controlled under Category 6, which covers sensors and lasers, to a destination in Europe. This transaction would previously required an individual validated license from BIS if License Exception STA would not have been available.

U.S. exporters and freight forwarders are reminded that in order to export items under License Exception STA and other license exceptions that the appropriate license exception code should be reported in the Electronic Export Information (EEI) filing reported in the Automated Export System (AES).

The Census Bureau has recently updated the AES system to add a new License Exception code of C59 in the AES License Type Field for STA shipments. The Census Bureau has also indicated that following new reporting requirements should be followed when using C59 to prevent the return of fatal errors from AES:

• In addition to reporting C59 in the AES License Type field, also report STA in the license number field.
• The Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) field is required. Refer to §740.20 of the Export Administration Regulations for those items that are ineligible for BIS license exception STA.
• Only destinations identified in §740.20 of the Export Administration Regulations are eligible.
• Report Export Information Codes OS, OI, CH or CI.
• Report any mode of transportation, except pipeline.

A complete list of all of the AES License Type codes and reporting instructions can be found here, which has been updated to include the code for License Exception STA.