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October 2014 • The PCB Magazine 29 NEW REGULATIONS CLARIFY U.S. ExPORT CONTROLS FOR DEFENSE PCBS continues IPC's Efforts Over the past four years, IPC conducted an ag- gressive and effective advocacy campaign for clear- er and more explicit ITAR controls on PCBs as part of a revised USML. During that time, IPC met with key officials at the Departments of State, Commerce and Defense, filed two sets of formal comments on proposed revisions to Category XI, and testified be- fore the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs. From the outset, IPC's position was clear: Printed board designs should remain under the jurisdiction of ITAR when the end item for which the board is designed is a USML item. PCBs must be controlled in the same manner as the defense articles for which they are designed because PCBs and their designs reveal valuable informa - tion about the workings of those defense articles. Throughout the four years, IPC sought the explic- it enumeration of PCBs as the most effective and appropriate method of addressing the widespread confusion within the defense community about ITAR controls on PCBs and their designs. On February 7, 2012, the IPC message was underscored by Mikel Williams, then president and CEO of DDi Corp and chairman of the IPC Government Relations Committee, who testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Williams' testimony underscored the importance of clear and appropriate U.S. export controls on PCB designs for sensitive military technologies. The Committee on Foreign Affairs held the hearing to consider industry perspectives on export control reform, including proposals now being contemplated by the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce. In addition to supporting the clarification of ITAR regulations for PCBs through explicit enu - meration, IPC also conducted a one-year edu- cational campaign, Follow the Law, Protect the Board initiative. The initiative sought to address continuing confusion in the defense industry about the applicability of ITAR to printed boards. At the center of the campaign was a white paper, "Applicability of U.S. Defense Trade Controls to Printed Boards," which was authored by the one of the country's leading ITAR lawyers. Delineat - ing the applicability of ITAR to PCBs in plain lan- guage, the white paper also provided examples of the importance of protecting PCBs designed for ITAR-controlled defense items. Revised Category xI Enumerates Control of PCBs The specific listing of PCBs in Category XI clarifies and highlights the importance of ITAR controls on PCBs in ITAR-covered defense arti- cles. This clarity represents a significant step in addressing the confusion in the defense industry about ITAR controls on PCBs, which should re- duce inappropriate sourcing of printed boards for ITAR items from non-ITAR facilities. Additionally, any designs or digital data related to "specially de- signed" PCBs will be controlled as technical data. In addition to specifically regulating, "(2) PCBs and populated circuit card assemblies for which the layout is specially designed for defense articles in this subchapter," the preamble to the rule states, "the Department has revised the con- trols for PCBs and patterned multichip modules, providing each with a separate subparagraph, and notes that jurisdiction of a PCB or patterned multichip module should follow the jurisdiction of the specific item for which it is designed, as opposed to the jurisdiction of the overall system into which the article one layer up from the PCB is ultimately incorporated." Next Steps The new rules are effective December 30, 2014. With respect to PCBs, the rule clarifies and emphasizes the existing regulatory status of PCBs for ITAR-controlled defense items, so companies should not wait until December to change inter - nal control procedures that may not be fully com- pliant with ITAR. In addition, the State Department has indicat- ed to IPC that the rule, although final, may need some tweaks. IPC will continue to meet with the State over the next few months to determine if additional clarifying language should be added, likely in the form of a note. For more information on IPC's efforts or to link to the final rule, visit www.ipc.org. PCB fern abrams is director of government relations and environmental policy for iPC.