Export compliance has two questions: is this item controlled, and is this party prohibited. The second catches far more ordinary businesses than the first, because it applies to everyday commercial goods and because the highest-risk parties frequently do not appear on any list by name.
General information, not legal advice. Export controls change frequently and penalties are severe. Verify against the Federal Register and take specialist advice before relying on any of this. Checked against BIS, OFAC and trade.gov sources in August 2026.
The lists, and the free official tool
The US government publishes a Consolidated Screening List at trade.gov, combining the main restricted-party lists into one free search with fuzzy name matching, a downloadable CSV and an API, updated daily. It covers:
| Agency | Lists |
|---|---|
| Commerce (BIS) | Denied Persons, Entity List, Unverified List, Military End User |
| State | Nonproliferation sanctions, AECA debarred parties |
| Treasury (OFAC) | SDN, Foreign Sanctions Evaders, Sectoral Sanctions, CAPTA, menu-based and Chinese Military-Industrial Complex lists, and others |
Important caveat, stated by the government itself: the consolidated list is an aid. It is not a licensing determination, does not replace checking the official Federal Register listings, and does not discharge your wider due diligence.
What the BIS lists actually do differs sharply. The Denied Persons List is absolute — no licence exceptions, no value threshold, no escape via EAR99. The Entity List imposes licence requirements whose scope is set per entity. The Unverified List is not a denial list at all: it suspends licence exceptions and requires a signed statement from the party before you ship, because BIS could not verify their bona fides.
The ownership rule that catches people
OFAC''s 50 percent rule is the most common screening miss. Property of entities owned 50% or more in the aggregate by one or more blocked persons is itself blocked — ownership adds up across multiple blocked owners and cascades through intermediate companies. OFAC''s own example: two blocked persons each own half of two companies, which each own a quarter of a third company; that third company is blocked.
These entities are frequently not named on the SDN list. A clean list hit is therefore not a clean result — you need ownership information, not just a name check.
A rule that is currently suspended — and returns in November
BIS adopted an affiliates rule in September 2025, extending Entity List restrictions automatically to entities at least 50% owned by listed parties, deliberately modelled on the OFAC approach. In November 2025 BIS suspended it for one year.
So as of August 2026 the affiliates rule is not in force, and it is scheduled to return on 10 November 2026 unless extended again. A great deal of published commentary describes it as active. Check the Federal Register before relying on either position — and note this reinstatement date falls within the next few months.
Do not confuse the two. OFAC''s 50 percent rule is longstanding, concerns blocked property, and is fully in force. The BIS affiliates rule is a separate instrument under the EAR and is the one suspended.
EAR, ITAR, ECCN and the EAR99 trap
- EAR — the Export Administration Regulations, run by Commerce/BIS, covering commercial and dual-use items on the Commerce Control List.
- ITAR — the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, run by State/DDTC, covering defense articles and services on the US Munitions List. Jurisdiction is binary: an item is one or the other, never both.
- ECCN — a five-character alphanumeric classification on the Commerce Control List identifying an item by performance characteristics or designed end use, and stating the reasons for control and available exceptions.
- EAR99 — the residual classification for items subject to the EAR but not listed on the Commerce Control List.
EAR99 does not mean "no licence needed". It means no list-based control on the item. Shipping an EAR99 product to a denied person, a sanctioned destination or a prohibited end use is still a violation. The government''s own wording requires careful due diligence on EAR99 items for exactly this reason.
Deemed exports: no cargo crosses a border
Releasing controlled technology or source code to a foreign person inside your own country counts as an export to their most recent country of citizenship or permanent residency. A design review, a shared drive, a factory tour or a lab demonstration can require a licence before it happens. Nothing ships.
Forwarders are not bystanders
Responsibility starts with the exporter — but delegating tasks to an agent does not relieve anyone of compliance. The EAR''s general prohibitions bind any person, and one of them expressly lists "forward" among the prohibited actions where there is knowledge that a violation has occurred, is about to, or is intended.
BIS publishes forwarder-specific guidance with red flags worth knowing on both sides of the relationship:
- The forwarder is named as the product''s final destination.
- The routing is abnormal for the product and destination.
- Packaging is inconsistent with the stated method or destination.
- The customer is evasive about whether goods are for domestic use or export.
- The exporter will not provide the ECCN or EAR99 status and licence authority when asked.
- The exporter cannot answer basic questions about its own customer or destination.
Where a red flag appears, the obligation is to inquire, evaluate, and decline the transaction if it cannot be resolved. OFAC goes wider still: all US persons must comply regardless of role or location, so a US forwarder handling a blocked party''s cargo is directly liable — there is no agency carve-out.
Routed exports change who files, not who is responsible for what
In a routed transaction the foreign buyer authorises a US agent to handle the export. Under the EAR the US exporter normally remains the exporter unless the foreign party expressly assumes that responsibility in writing, in which case its US agent becomes the exporter for licensing purposes. Even then, the US party must still supply the ECCN or sufficient technical information to classify the item, plus anything it knows that affects licence authority. Routed status does not transfer that, and it does not immunise the forwarder from the general prohibitions.
A workable screening routine
- Screen every party, not just the buyer — consignee, end user, notify party, freight forwarder, bank and intermediate consignees.
- Screen again before shipping, not only at order entry. Lists change daily.
- Ask about ownership, not just names, because of the 50 percent rule.
- Classify your items and record the ECCN or EAR99 determination and who made it.
- Keep the evidence — screenshots or logs of each screening, with dates.
- Document red flags and how you resolved them. An unresolved red flag on file is worse than none; a resolved one is your defence.
- Re-check the affiliates rule status ahead of November 2026.
Related: rules of origin, import documentation, and customs clearance and trade compliance.
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