世界各地的政治不稳定正在创造一个繁荣的美国.S. arms exports, and it’s putting the spotlight on the important difference between 直接商业销售(DCS) and 对外军售(FMS).

The U.S. 国务院报告授权销售军事硬件, services and technical data to foreign governments hit $153 billion in 2022, 比去年增长了26%. (The figures are based on a three-year rolling average that compensates for the multi-year nature of many of these deals.)

其中的四分之三通过 DCS在美国,一个美国政府.S. 一家十大网赌正规网址与一家非美国十大网赌正规网址进行交易谈判.S. 企业或外国政府. The government has no involvement until it receives the application for an export license. And then its role is strictly regulatory, assuring the transaction aligns with U.S. 外交政策和安全赌博十大排名官方网站.

另外25%的销售额是通过FMS协议实现的.S. 政府直接与外国政府谈判交易, 然后与私营企业签订合同来履行这些条款. 这些销售通常涉及主要武器系统和其他致命武器, 高科技或其他敏感设备.

例如,在2022年11月,国务院宣布了其 approval of a proposed $700 million sale of Patriot Advanced Capability missiles to Switzerland 在FMS项目下, for the purpose of “improving national and territorial defense as well as interoperability with U.S. 和北约部队.”

洛克希德马丁十大网赌正规网址. 被认定为主承包商, 该协议还包括一系列额外的设备和服务, 包括遥测套件, 训练轮, 备件和技术支持.

截至2022年,共有70多起此类交易被披露 新闻稿 在国防安全合作局网站上. 在那之后,十大网赌正规网址他们的信息就很少了.

FMS授权下的下一步交易, the next step is a Letter of Offer Acceptance (LOA) – essentially a contract between the two governments. 在那之后,美国国防部与美国国防部签订了一份合同.S. 将履行交易的制造商.

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ITAR中的FMS豁免

Prior to 2013, it would have been generally safe to assume that any items being exported through the 对外军售计划 were subject to the ITAR – and therefore eligible for a license exemption defined within that program.

这是说得通的:为什么美国应该.S. company need an export license from one part of the State Department to complete a transaction another office in the same department has already approved? 对于那些经常与出口法规打交道的人来说 FMS exemption 在ITAR中是非常简单的. It says no export license is needed for transactions authorized under the 对外军售计划 if:

  1. 有有效的LOA并没有过期;
  2. 具体交易在该LOA的范围内;
  3. 材料的授权运输已经确定. 这可能是U.S. military transport, an ITAR-registered freight forwarder or the foreign government’s own transport. (不是承包商自己的物流供应商.)

尽管看起来很清楚, applying this exemption can pose a practical problem for exporters – especially in later years of an LOA as they fulfill orders for replacement parts, 技术支持, 软件升级和数据. loa不会被公布,而且承包商通常都不会看到它们. So business operators know they have a contract that’s related to FMS authority, but they may still struggle to determine whether they can use the FMS exemption or need to apply for an export license.

从EAR中排除FMS

从2013年开始, the Export Control Reform initiative began transferring control of many military items from the ITAR to the EAR. 为避免在FMS授权下销售的物品管辖权上产生混淆, 在EAR中写入了一个雕刻, saying:

出售的物品受EAR约束, leased or loaned by the Department of Defense to a foreign country or international organization under the FMS Program of the Arms Export Control Act pursuant to a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) authorizing such transfers are not “subject to the EAR,” but rather, 受《十大网赌正规网址》管辖吗.

The nuance here is that an item’s classification under the EAR – of central importance in Direct Commercial Sales – is irrelevant under FMS authority. 即使货品通常须受《赌博十大排名官方网站》规管, 通过FMS销售的事实将该项目排除在EAR之外. So determining whether FMS authority applies becomes a high-stakes consideration.

如果这对美国来说是一个挑战.S. 对于美国以外的十大网赌正规网址来说,这就更加困难了.S. 可能涉及的实体.

验证挑战

要理解其中的原因,不妨考虑一下美国.S. 有关机构和办事处:

工业和安全局 (BIS),在美国境内.S. 商务部, 对EAR有行政管辖权吗, 负责对受《赌博十大排名官方网站》规管的物品实施出口管制, 包括通过DCS销售的军品.

国防贸易管制局 (DDTC), within the State Department, has administrative jurisdiction over the ITAR. 这是负责任的, 除此之外, 签发出口许可证, reexports, 以及美国的国防用品和国防服务的转移.S. 军需清单通过DCS出售.

国防安全合作局 (DSCA),隶属于国防部 监督FMS项目 并处理金融服务系统交易的细节.

区域安全和武器转让办公室 (RSAT), within the same Bureau of Political-Military Affairs as DDTC at the State Department, 管理政治、军事和地区安全关系, 和美国的转移.S.-向外国政府提供国防用品和服务. It oversees reexports and retransfers of items sold through FMS transactions.

So, 对于美国以外的实体, permission reexport or retransfer items can involve different agencies depending on the type of transaction used for the original export – DDTC for DCS, FMS为RSAT.

Finding details about the original transaction can be difficult – and only grows more so as time passes. 涉及的私营十大网赌正规网址可能从未见过原始的LOA, 随着承包商被替换,十大网赌正规网址被出售, 任何相关信息都可能丢失. RSAT没有原始的LOA, 而DDTC并没有专门负责整理此类询问的人员. 目前,还没有十大网赌正规网址处理这种情况的规定.

如果你错了,他们会告诉你的

保护自己, FMS contractors may try to cover all the bases by applying for an export license for any items in the deal that are subject to the EAR.

这个赌博十大排名官方网站已经引起了足够多的混乱,2021年,由七个美国人组成的小组.S. 政府部门——包括上面列出的所有部门——都聚集在一起 FMS常见赌博十大排名官方网站解答联合文件 这就解决了这个赌博十大排名官方网站和其他常见赌博十大排名官方网站.

The document warns that if you apply for an export license under the EAR for an item sold through an FMS transaction, the likely response will be a Return Without Action notification (RWA) “because the items described in this proposed transaction were sold by the Department of Defense to a foreign country under the 对外军售(FMS) Program…”

The document also tries to correct a misconception that you need to receive this RWA as proof that an export is subject to FMS authority: “Exporters are encouraged not to apply for licenses or other authorizations when they know a license is not required from BIS and DDTC.”

你怎么知道?

  1. 如果在USML上找不到该项目;
  2. If the item would be subject to the EAR if it wasn’t covered under FMS authority;
  3. 如果项目符合标准 在EAR中的FMS雕刻.

Ascertaining these first two requirements is part of the routine in any military export compliance program. If there’s uncertainty about the third, the multi-agency FAQ starts to sound a bit impatient:

BIS不管理FMS项目,也不签订贷款协议. Therefore, when an exporter is not sure … the exporter is advised to initially contact the Implementing Agency/Line Manager that has implemented the contract … and then, as needed, contact RSAT and/or DSCA to determine whether the export is within the scope of a particular FMS case and an LOA.

结论是,你不会得到这样一份文件, "该物品可以在没有许可证的情况下出口或再出口.” Playing it safe means understanding the regulations and maintaining meticulous records related to the contract.

To learn more, consider the 出口合规培训学院’s on-demand course, 出口到美国和外国政府.

联系出口合规培训机构

Do you have questions about the differences between Direct Commercial Sales and Foreign Military Sales? Visit xntbo.mxrdf.com 了解我们的十大网赌正规网址,我们的教师,我们的员工和我们尊敬的人 出口合规专家(ECoP®)赌博十大排名官方网站计划. 找到即将到来的 e-seminarslive seminars and live webinars and 浏览我们的目录80多个按需网络赌博十大排名官方网站参观我们的ECTI学院. 您也可以致电出口合规培训学院 540-433-3977 了解更多信息. Scott Gearity 是ECTI十大网赌正规网址的总裁.

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