Do I have to register with DDTC?

Manufacturing a defense article can require registration even if you never export anything. Registration is annual, and it is not permission to export.

Written for: Hardware companies whose product may sit on the Munitions List

Who has to register

Persons who engage in the business of manufacturing or exporting defense articles, or furnishing defense services, generally have to register with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. The manufacturing trigger catches companies that are surprised by it, because it does not depend on selling anything abroad. Building the thing can be enough.

What registration is not

Registration is not an export authorization. It is a precondition to seeking one. Registering does not make anything exportable, and holding a registration while exporting without a licence is not better than not holding one.

The exemptions and their limits

There are narrow exemptions, including for persons whose only activity is producing unclassified technical data, and for those engaged only in experimental or scientific research and development that meets the conditions. They turn on exact facts, they do not make the product uncontrolled, and they do not authorize any export.

The part with a deadline

Registration is annual, and changes to the registered entity carry reporting obligations with short clocks. Some changes in ownership or control require advance notice rather than notice after the fact, which means a financing or an acquisition can create an obligation before it closes rather than after.

The rules behind this

• 22 CFR 122.1
• 22 CFR 122.2
• 22 CFR 122.4
• 22 CFR 120.32

This is a plain reading of published rules, not legal advice, and it is not a determination about your item. What decides your case is your exact configuration, your parties, and your destination. The limits, in full.

Next

• Browse the U.S. Munitions List
• ITAR or EAR, which one applies to me?
• Find out what applies to you

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