International Traffic in Arms Regulations compliance, or ITAR compliance, was created by the United States Department of State for the movement of articles of defense, including controlled chemicals [1]. ITAR legislation goes hand-in-hand with commerce control lists (CCL) to implement several international regulations governing chemical control in the USA–specifically those which can be used in chemical weapons production and explosives. Ensuring ITAR compliance requires innovative solutions to identify these chemicals and present the best data to make informed decisions at the intersection of scientific research, commerce and law.
This article will spotlight ITAR compliance and how it applies to users throughout the supply chain. This blog will further explore the challenges of ensuring ITAR compliance and highlight the benefits of Scitegrity's Controlled Substances Squared solution for ITAR compliance.
CCL & ITAR compliance in the supply chain
With a focus on military-related chemicals, agents, precursors, explosives, and energetic materials, ITAR compliance places controls on the handling and usage of controlled chemicals often used in laboratory and industrial spheres [2]. This regulation impacts the supply chain of controlled chemicals in industrial, academic institutions and life science companies. Furthermore, ITAR compliance may require specific declarations on chemical shipments [2]. Not following ITAR compliance could result in unsafe research environments, delayed work processes, and penalties according to civil or criminal law [2]. Ensuring ITAR compliance is, therefore, important when working with chemicals likely to be covered by ITAR or CCL.
Challenges to ensuring CCL & ITAR compliance
Ensuring chemical compliance can be a complex and convoluted process. The first step to compliance – identifying a regulated chemical – is often the most challenging. Two common search characteristics to identify a chemical are name and structure. Trying to rely on name searching can lead to compliance issues, given there are many ways to name the same chemical and legislation often covers areas of controlled chemical space in addition to named chemicals. This may cover the salts and esters of the named substance or refer to more complex definitions, such as chemical family controls and generic statements. Consequently, it is vital that you search and assess these too, which can only be done by assessing the chemical’s structure against the regulations. Ensuring CCL and ITAR compliance subsequently requires a proactive approach [3].
Furthermore, regulations and even which substances are controlled vary widely between countries. These reasons establish a need for a compliance solution that is reliable, comprehensive, and easy to use.
CCL & ITAR compliance solutions with Scitegrity Limited
Our Controlled Substance Squared platform provides an innovative and useful solution to meeting CCL and ITAR compliance and other chemical regulations such as CCL, Controlled Drug and the Chemical Weapaons Convention. By encoding the controlled chemicals and chemical space, the technology checks controlled substance legislation and lists globally with the simple entry of a chemical name or structure [4]. Updated weekly, Controlled Substance Squared can perform rapid screening of collections of millions of chemicals against controlled substance lists and legislation, such as ITAR compliance lists and CCL, to help lessen the burden of chemical identification [4]. This is particularly beneficial with compliance challenges for chemicals that are subject to a number of different regulations worldwide, including national legislation and regional and international agreements.
We employ leading scientific and data-driven experts to develop powerful, comprehensive, and simple solutions to allow ITAR compliance. The products and services at Scitegrity will enhance the controlled chemical compliance and identification process in workflows. More information about ITAR compliance and controlled substance compliance solutions can be found on our website. If you are interested in learning more about how the Controlled Substance Squared software can help solve your unique ITAR compliance and CCL compliance challenges, please reach out to a team member for a demo; we would be happy to assist.
Sources:
- Article - DDTC Public Portal. (2016). State.gov. https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/ddtc_public?id=ddtc_kb_article_page&sys_id=24d528fddbfc930044f9ff621f961987
- Export Controlled Items | Research and Innovation. (2022). Uoregon.edu. https://research.uoregon.edu/manage/export-controls/export-controlled-items
- Controlled and Regulated Chemicals: Ensuring Compliance in Research and Manufacturing. Scitegrity Chemicals Compliance White Paper, Scitegrity (2022). Scitegrity.com https://www.scitegrity.com/controlled-substances
- Regulated Chemicals | Controlled Substance Lists | Scitegrity. (2022). Scitegrity.com. https://www.scitegrity.com/controlled-substances
