Review by BIS. In reviewing specific license applications, BIS will conduct a complete analysis of the license application along with all documentation submitted in support of the application. In addition to reviewing the item and end-use, BIS will consider the reliability of each party to the transaction and review any available intelligence information. To the maximum extent possible, BIS will make licensing decisions without referral of license applications to other agencies, however, BIS may consult with other U.S. departments and agencies regarding any license application.

Review by other departments or agencies. (1) The Departments of Defense, Energy, State, and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) have the authority to review any license application submitted under the EAR. In addition, BIS may, where appropriate, refer license applications to other U.S. government departments or agencies. These agencies and departments will be referred to as “agencies” for the purposes of this part. Though these agencies have the authority to review any license application, they may determine that they do not need to review certain types of license applications. In these instances, the agency will provide BIS with a Delegation of Authority to process those license applications without review by that particular agency.

The Departments of Defense, Energy, State, and ACDA are generally concerned with license applications involving items controlled for national security, missile technology, nuclear nonproliferation, and chemical and biological weapons proliferation reasons or destined for countries and/or end uses of concern. In particular, these agencies are concerned with reviewing license applications as follows:

The Department of Defense is concerned primarily with items controlled for national security and regional stability reasons and with controls related to encryption items;

The Department of Energy is concerned primarily with items controlled for nuclear nonproliferation reasons;

The Department of State is concerned primarily with items controlled for national security, nuclear nonproliferation, missile technology, regional stability, anti-terrorism, crime control reasons, and sanctions; and

The Department of Justice is concerned with controls relating to encryption items and items primarily useful for the surreptitious interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications.