Foreign Travel

Export Control Concerns and Foreign Travel

When traveling abroad, UNT travelers should first complete the International Travel Registration Form to help determine whether items being taken out of the country are "licensed controlled" as determined by Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also may prohibit travel to embargoed countries even when exclusions to EAR and ITAR apply. 

Travel to most countries does not usually constitute an export control problem.  In most cases, items such as a personal laptop computer and other “tools of trade” do not require a license except for travel to Cuba and in some cases to the Sudan.  However, “tools of trade” must remain under the “effective controls” of the employee if the travel is to certain countries such as North Korea, Iran, Syria, and in some cases to the Sudan. 

"Tools of the Trade" are items considered commodities, software, and technology and may be temporarily export and re-export commodities and software for temporary use abroad (including use in international waters). Consult EAR Part 740.9 for more on tools of the trade.

“Effective control” means you must keep the item in your physical possession or keep it secured in a place such as a hotel safe, a bonded warehouse, or a locked or guarded exhibition facility.

Note: The “tools of trade” exception does not apply to controlled technology. The traveler would need a license to take certain technologies found on the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Commerce Control List (CCL)