October 30th, 2011

ISO and the ITAR, What Management Reps Need To Know

There are thousands of registered ISO organizations that have undergone the pain of a third-party audit, providing evidence of effective implemented processes and procedures to meet the needs of their customers.

The good news is that many of these same organizations are currently registered with the Department of State Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) as a manufacturer, broker and/or exporter of USML items. The bad news is that when it comes to providing evidence of compliance to the ITAR, many ISO and/or AS9100 registered organizations fail miserably. Consider the following question I posed during a recent ITAR assessment: When interviewing a shipping manager, I asked if there were any export procedure requirements for international shipping documents pertaining to USML items, and I received a blank stare. I learned that there was no documented process to assure that the §123.9(b) is followed. The exporter should be able to demonstrate using export clearance procedures requiring that (at a minimum) the Bill of Lading contains the following: “These commodities are authorized by the U.S. Government for export only to [country of ultimate destination] for use by [end user]. They may not be transferred, transshipped on a non-continuous voyage, or otherwise be disposed of in any other country, either in their original form or after being incorporated into other end items, without the prior written approval of the U.S. Department of State.”

It doesnʼt get any better when you ask if the personnel in charge of the ISO Quality Management System have ever received in-depth training on the ITAR and if the regulations were considered when drafting the “Quality Manual and Procedures.” Itʼs time for the compliance officers and empowered officials to start interfacing with the quality guys so that good companies donʼt inadvertently participate in an illegal transaction.