International Shipping Information

This section provides information on shipping any tangible items by CMU to any location outside the U.S. CMU must ensure compliance with the international shipping requirements that are set out by the Departments of State, Commerce, Treasury, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Census Bureau. These regulations require in most cases that all permanent export and temporary export/import shipping information is filed electronically with Census using the Automated Export System (AES) and hard copies of export licenses (if applicable) are properly lodged with CBP. 

Any shipment sent outside the U.S. is considered an export and requires a CMU export review and/or authorization depending on the U.S. controls. For purposes of conducting research abroad or other CMU activities, shipping or hand-carrying items like laptops, GPS, certain instruments, samples, prototypes, or equipment that may need to be used in another country for research, demonstrations or collaborations is considered an export. Although not all items will require a license to export, an export review and determination is required prior to taking items outside the U.S.

Applying proper determination of licensing requirements is essential to ensure all items are covered by either a license authorization from the appropriate U.S. Government Office or if an export exemption/exception may apply. Sufficient lead time should be taken into account for an export review and/or export license as necessary. Equipment may not be sent outside the U.S. until a determination has been made to whether an export license is required.

Shipments controlled under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) or the Interational Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) must be handled in strict compliance with the export regulations. Failure to obtain appropriate export licenses or other government approval, failure to file correct export documentation or shipping documents can result in severe fines and other penalties.

International shipments require complex processing and should not be attempted by individuals. Contact the CMU Export Compliance Group prior to engaging in any type of international shipping of items, software, technology, or technical data related to CMU activities to any location outside the U.S.

Please complete the International Shipping Checklist [DOCX] and submit to export-compliance@andrew.cmu.edu.