State Department Issues Final Rule for Updated ITAR Definitions

In a Federal Register Notice (FRN) published on August 15, 2024, the Department of State (DOS) announced a final rule that expands the definition of "activities that are not exports, reexports, retransfers, or temporary imports."

This rule clarifies that the following are activities that are not exports, reexports, retransfers, or temporary imports:

• Taking a defense article on a deployment or training exercise outside a previously approved country as long as there is no change in the end-use or end-user, the article remains in possession of authorized armed forces or United Nations military personnel, and the article is not being "exported from or temporarily imported into the United States."
• The transfer of a foreign defense article previously imported into the United States that has since been exported from the United States under an ITAR license if the article was not modified or altered in a manner changing the performance of the item, did not incorporate any U.S. origin defense article, and will not be exported from or temporarily imported into the U.S.

This final rule goes into effect on September 16, 2024.

FRN 2024-18249 can be read in full here:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/08/15/2024-18249/international-traffic-in-arms-regulations-amendments-to-the-definition-of-activities-that-are-not