Carnegie Mellon University

Export Compliance Questions Upon Award

1. Public Release: Do you intend to withhold from publishing or publicly releasing the results of your research?

GUIDANCE
Answer YES if there is any reason you would withhold your results from open publication.

Answer NO if you intend on publicly releasing the results of your research.

WHY IS THIS QUESTION RELEVANT?
In order to qualify for the Fundamental Research Exemption, which exempts research from applicable U.S. export control laws and regulations, there must be an INTENT to publish under 15 CFR  734.8, 22 CFR 120.11, and NSDD 189 and keeps the university in compliance with our Restricted Research Policy.  Be advised that if you answer YES, then the project may fall under Restricted Research per University Policy.  The Contracts Officer and/or the CMU Export Compliance Group will contact the PI to discuss government requirements.

2. International Travel: Do you anticipate any international travel by CMU faculty, students and/or staff for field research, testing or collaboration specifically for this project? This question does NOT include travel to participate in open academic conferences except to BIS sanctioned destination countries (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria).
GUIDANCE

Answer YES if you have budgeted for foreign travel OR you believe foreign travel is possible for the purposes of completing work this award. Your award will not be held back for review if you answer YES. If you answer YES, the CMU Export Compliance Group will provide guidance on a required travel letter and travel review.

Answer NO if you are not planning any foreign travel.

WHY IS THIS QUESTION RELEVANT?
When you are traveling outside of the United States on behalf of CMU:

  • Sponsors may require approvals on foreign travel and/or restrictions on certain airline carriers
  • CMU needs to ensure that you are not traveling to a country where travel is prohibited or restricted by the U.S. government and/or where U.S. passports are invalid. 
  • To minimize issues with Customs officers while traveling outside of the U.S., please request a travel letter from CMU to present to any country’s Customs Agency at: https://www.cmu.edu/research-compliance/export-controls/foreign-travel.html NOTE: You must have an Andrew ID to access this request portal.
3. International Shipping/Carrying (Tangible Items): Do you anticipate anyone from CMU will be shipping or traveling with tangible items (related to this award, e.g., prototypes, materials or samples) outside of the United States?

GUIDANCE
Answer YES if you have budgeted for foreign travel OR you believe foreign travel is possible, aside from open academic conferences to non-BIS-sanctioned countries, for the purposes of completing work this award. Your award will not be held back for review if you answer YES. If you answer YES, the CMU Export Compliance Group will provide guidance on a required travel letter and travel review.

Answer NO if you will be carrying only your own personal items (personal electronics, clothing, books, etc.).

WHY IS THIS QUESTION RELEVANT?
When you are shipping any tangible items and/or traveling with any tangible items outside of the United States on behalf of CMU under this award:

  • You are exporting under U.S. export laws and regulations (22 CFR120.17 & 15 CFR 734.13)
  • Government export requirements, from either the exporting country (U.S.) and/or the importing country, may exist for your hand-carry items.
  • Exporting without required government authorizations is illegal and can result in monetary and/or punitive damages for CMU.
  • There may be Customs duties associated with items you hand carry that can be avoided by having the appropriate temporary import information on your person.
  • Without appropriate documentation, there is a higher risk of being questioned or detained by any Customs agency, including confiscation of the tangible items you are carrying.
  • It is illegal to travel with any tangible items to countries where travel is prohibited by the U.S. and/or where U.S. passports are invalid, as you traveling to one of these countries under CMU, a U.S. institution, with tangible items from the U.S. will be interpreted as CMU exporting to a nation that is embargoed by the U.S. (BIS Sanctions and ITAR Sanctions 22 CFR 126.1). 
4. International Locations: Do you anticipate that any portion of your project will be conducted outside of the United States by CMU researchers or others working on the award?

GUIDANCE
Answer YES if you anticipate that any portion of your project will be conducted outside the U.S. If the exact global locations are unknown at this time, you are obligated to send the information to export-compliance@andrew.cmu.edu when that information is available.

Answer NO if no work on any portion of your project under this award will be located outside of the U.S.

WHY IS THIS QUESTION RELEVANT?

  • In order to qualify for the Fundamental Research Exemption, which exempts research from certain U.S. export control laws and regulations, the work must be completed in the U.S. at an accredited institution 15 CFR  734.8, 22 CFR 120.11, and NSDD 189
  • U.S. export control laws and regulations DO NOT apply IF the information/technology/materials you are sharing are able to be shared under your agreement with the Sponsor AND it is NOT confidential information AND the results will be freely published OR what you will be sharing is public information (therefore not subject to U.S. export controls) AND the results will be freely published.
  • CMU needs to ensure that we are not engaging with collaborators in U.S. sanctioned countries without prior government authorization.
5. Outside Participation: Will you be engaging with parties outside of CMU not covered by any other agreement associated with this award (i.e. not listed under Subawards, Subcontracts, Professional Services Agreements, etc. in the agreement)?. For example, unfunded collaborators from another academic institution must be listed. Please include their names and home institutions / organizations / companies in the comments section.

GUIDANCE
Answer YES if you are collaborating with anyone outside of CMU under this award not covered by any other agreement associated with this award (i.e. not listed under Subawards, Subcontracts, Professional Services Agreements, etc. in the agreement).  For example, unfunded collaborators from another academic institution must be listed. Please include their names and home institutions / organizations / companies in the comments section. If these collaborators are unknown at this time, you are obligated to send their information to export-compliance@andrew.cmu.edu when that information is available.

Answer NO if you will not be collaborating with anyone outside of CMU under this award.

WHY IS THIS QUESTION RELEVANT?

  • CMU systematically screens all external collaborators against the various U.S. restricted and denied parties lists, to ensure that we are not engaging with anyone who CMU is restricted from engaging with by the U.S. government.
6. International Technology/Software Transfer (Non-tangible items): Do you anticipate anyone from CMU transferring to outside of the United States, including traveling internationally with, technical data, designs, technology, and code/software that are not published currently, will not be published, or will not be generally accessible to the public?

GUIDANCE
Answer YES if you intend on transferring technical data, designs, technology, and/or code/software that are not currently published, will not be published, or will not be generally accessible to the public outside of the U.S. on behalf of CMU under this award. The method of transfer (e.g., hand-carry, mailed, electronically, or verbally) is irrelevant; government requirements may exist even when non-public data is shown to a non-U.S. person in the U.S.

Answer NO if you will be carrying a clean laptop with a public presentation or public information AND/OR if you do not intend to transfer technical data, designs, technology, and code/software that is not currently published, you intend to not publish, or will not be generally accessible to the public outside of the U.S.

WHY IS THIS QUESTION RELEVANT?
By university policy, CMU does not allow restricted research on its campus.  For on-campus projects, the question pertains to handling non-public data/software/code obtained from third-parties before or during execution of the award.

When you are transferring ANY technical data, designs, technology, and/or code/software that are not currently published, will not be published, or will not be generally accessible to the public outside of the U.S.:

  • You are exporting under U.S. export laws and regulations (22 CFR120.17 & 15 CFR 734.13)
  • There may be government export requirements that apply to the technical data, designs, technology and code/software that you are transferring (including hand-carrying) outside of the U.S. Prior government authorization from either the exporting country (U.S.) and/or the importing country may be required.
  • This includes any technology on your phone and computer, whether or not furnished by CMU. The phone and computer itself falls under the prior “Tangible Items” question.
  • Exporting without the required government authorizations is illegal and can result in monetary and/or punitive damages for CMU.
7. Receiving or Accessing Sensitive or Restricted Data or Technology: Do you anticipate the need to access and/or take receipt of confidential, proprietary, or otherwise sensitive information materials or software, or technical data, including but not limited to controlled unclassified information (CUI), covered defense information (CDI), classified information, export controlled data (including ITAR) and/or information residing on secured data systems requiring a security clearance?

GUIDANCE
Answer YES if you are aware that you will have access and/or take receipt of confidential or sensitive information materials or software, or technical data under your award. These types of sensitive information may come under several different labels, including controlled unclassified information (CUI), covered defense information (CDI), classified information, and export controlled data (including under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, ITAR).

Answer NO if you do not believe or are aware that you will have access and/or take receipt of confidential or sensitive information materials or software, or technical data under your award.

WHY IS THIS QUESTION RELEVANT?
Under no circumstances is classified information allowed on campus.  CMU researchers may take receipt of certain types of sensitive or restricted data and/or technology and still have publishable results under the Fundamental Research Exemption. However, to comply with our Restricted Research Policy and to ensure an open sharing and learning campus environment, the CMU Export Compliance Group will need to know:

  • What is the sensitive or restricted data and/or technology is?
  • What controls apply to the restricted data and/or technology?
  • How it will be transferred to CMU?
  • How/where it will be stored at CMU?
  • Who do you expect to have access to the restricted data and/or technology?

This information will help us develop the appropriate compliance plan to ensure CMU meets government requirements.