Export Controls term. U.S. export control agencies in the Commerce and State Departments publish a list of persons who have violated export control regulations and have been as a result denied export rights from the U.S. or of goods subject to U.S. technology controls. Other similar categories of persons or companies include the Unverified List, the Entity List, the US Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals List, and the US State Department’s Debarred List.
Fortunately, the relevant agencies have now published a single Consolidated Screening List that merges the forgoing lists into a single list. Generally, persons and companies on these lists are arms dealers, companies or people who have been involved in suspect transactions, though anecdotally, some unfortunate persons have ended up on the denied persons list for relatively unserious offences, or for unfortunate associations. The lists also include a large number of people and entities subject to international sanctions.
If a business is involved in an international sale of dual use goods and it is uncertain or suspicious about the receiving party, it should at an absolute minimum check the denied persons list, both locally and on the Web site of the United States Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (export control entities share information). Before doing any further business with a denied person specialist legal advice must be sought. In general, financial institutions and entities dealing in dual use items should check the Consolidated Screening List with respect to new customers.
The situation with respect to Denied Persons and Restricted Persons in the EU is much more complex. First, the EU publishes (though not in a very accessible way) its own denied party list and restricted party lists. Second, member states publish their own lists, which may supplement the EU’s lists. These lists can change on a day-to-day basis. One result is that companies have sprung up providing software tools that allow regular exporters of controlled commodities to check their status on the various lists, EU, National and US.