§ 123.27 - Special licensing regime for export to U.S. allies of commercial communications satellite components, systems, parts, accessories, attachments and associated technical data.

§ 123.27 Special licensing regime for export to U.S. allies of commercial communications satellite components, systems, parts, accessories, attachments and associated technical data.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 87 FR 16424, Mar. 23, 2022.

(a) U.S. persons engaged in the business of exporting specifically designed or modified components, systems, parts, accessories, attachments, associated equipment and certain associated technical data for commercial communications satellites, and who are so registered with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls pursuant to part 122 of this subchapter, may submit license applications for multiple permanent and temporary exports and temporary imports of such articles for expeditious consideration without meeting the documentary requirements of § 123.1(c)(4) and (5) concerning purchase orders, letters of intent, contracts and non-transfer and end use certificates, or the documentary requirements of § 123.9, concerning approval of re-exports or re-transfers, when all of the following requirements are met:

(1) The proposed exports or re-exports concern exclusively one or more countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (see § 120.31 of this subchapter) and/or one or more countries which have been designated in accordance with section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and with section 1206 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 as a major non-NATO ally (see § 120. 32 of this subchapter).

(2) The proposed exports concern exclusively one or more foreign persons (e.g., companies or governments) located within the territories of the countries identified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, and one or more commercial communications satellite programs included within a list of such persons and programs approved by the U.S. Government for purposes of this section, as signified in a list of such persons and programs that will be publicly available through the Internet Web site of the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and by other means.

(3) The articles are not major defense equipment sold under a contract in the amount of $14,000,000 or more or defense articles or defense services sold under a contract in the amount of $50,000,000 or more (for which purpose, as is customary, exporters may not split contracts or purchase orders). Items meeting these statutory thresholds must be submitted on a separate license application to permit the required notification to Congress pursuant to section 36(c) of the Arms Export Control Act.

(4) The articles are not detailed design, development, manufacturing or production data and do not involve the manufacture abroad of significant military equipment.

(5) The U.S. exporter provides complete shipment information to the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls within 15 days of shipment by submitting a report containing a description of the item and the quantity, value, port of exit, and end-user and country of destination of the item, and at that time meets the documentary requirements of § 123.1(c)(4) and (5), the documentary requirements of § 123.9 in the case of re-exports or re-transfers, and, other documentary requirements that may be imposed as a condition of a license (e.g., parts control plans for MTCR-controlled items). The shipment information reported must include a description of the item and quantity, value, port of exit and end user and country of destination of the item.

(6) At any time in which an item exported pursuant to this section is proposed for re-transfer outside of the approved territory, programs or persons (e.g., such as in the case of an item included in a satellite for launch beyond the approved territory), the detailed requirements of § 123.9 apply with regard to obtaining the prior written consent of the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.

(b) The re-export or re-transfer of the articles authorized for export (including to specified re-export destinations) in accordance with this section do not require the separate prior written approval of the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls provided all of the requirements in paragraph (a) of this section are met.

(c) The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will consider, on a case-by-case basis, requests to include additional foreign companies and satellite programs within the geographic coverage of a license application submitted pursuant to this section from countries not otherwise covered, who are members of the European Space Agency or the European Union. In no case, however, can the provisions of this section apply or be relied upon by U.S. exporters in the case of countries who are subject to the mandatory requirements of Section 1514 of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (Pub. L. 105-261), concerning national security controls on satellite export licensing.

(d) Registered U.S. exporters may request at the time of a license application submitted pursuant to this section that additional foreign persons or communications satellite programs be added to the lists referred to in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, which additions, if approved, will be included within the publicly available lists of authorized recipients and programs.

[65 FR 34091, May 26, 2000, as amended at 67 FR 58988, Sept. 19, 2002; 69 FR 40314, July 2, 2004; 70 FR 50963, Aug. 29, 2005; 71 FR 20542, Apr. 21, 2006; 87 FR 16424, Mar. 23, 2022]