Export Control Compliance Program (ECCP)
All institutions of higher learning, including their faculty, staff, and students, must comply with the export laws and regulations of the United States—collectively called “export controls.” Export controls are laws and regulations designed to ensure that certain information, technology, biological and chemical agents and other sensitive items are secure and not employed for purposes contrary to national security or US economic interests.
Since Congress passed the first Export Control Act in 1940, the President has had the power to limit the import and export of military equipment, munitions, and other materials whenever doing so is deemed “necessary in the interest of national defense.”
Over the years, the President’s authority to regulate exports has expanded from physical military items to cover all commercial and civilian goods as well as certain kinds of military and commercial information (also known as “technical data” and “technology,” respectively). During that time, the President has delegated this regulatory authority to several agencies.
Modern export controls are designed to address heightened concerns about homeland security, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, drug-trafficking, and leaks of American technology to foreign competitors. Export controls typically answer four main questions:
- What can be exported from the United States?
- Where in the world can it be exported to?
- Who can receive it?
- How will they use it?
The Export Control Compliance Program is designed to provide guidance in answering these questions as they apply to members of the UNL community.
Export controls regulate more than just the shipment of physical goods to foreign countries. They also regulate sharing information with foreign nationals, even on UNL’s campus.
Export controls pose unique challenges in academic settings—especially in universities like UNL that are home to many experts and students from outside the United States. A university’s primary export is knowledge, but even certain kinds of knowledge are controlled.
In order to ensure that all university activities—including research conducted by members of the UNL community—are in full compliance with United States export controls, UNL has developed an Export Control Compliance Program to establish compliance procedures and provide guidance and other resources to faculty, students, and staff participating in controlled activities.
The Export Control Staff is responsible for determining whether university activities are subject to export controlsand, if so, providing training on export control compliance, completing export control determinations, implementing technology control plans, assisting with international travel or shipping, and providing related support.
Contact
Export Compliance Staff
402-472-6929
exportcontrol@unl.edu
