Export Controls

Export control laws are federal regulations that control the conditions under which certain information, technologies, and commodities can be transmitted overseas to anyone, including U.S. citizens, or to a foreign national on U.S. soil.

You must contact General Counsel if your research involves the transmission of research information or technology to someone overseas, or sharing information or technology with someone other than a U.S. citizen or permanent resident within the United States. This includes discussing your research with research colleagues or students in your laboratory who are foreign nationals.

Most LLU research activities will most likely be excluded from export control laws. But you must consult with General Counsel to be sure.

Other Helpful Links:

Guidance on Imports

Guidance on Etiologic Agents

Etiologic agents are those microorganisms and microbial toxins that cause disease in humans and include bacteria, bacterial toxins, viruses, fungi, rickettsiae, protozoans, and parasites.

See CDC's Etiologic Agent Import Permit Program

Guidance on Importing Plant Materials / Organisms That Affect Plants

Permits are required for the importation, transit, domestic movement and environmental release of Organisms that impact plants, and the importation and transit of Plants and Plant Products under authority of the Plant Protection and Honeybee Acts.

The protection of agricultural products is taken very seriously, so it is important to make sure that all requirements are followed.

Where to Start:

See the U.S. Department of Agriculture site (under the division Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, also known as APHIS) that describes the regulation of the importation of plant materials. This is a good place to start looking for the various types of permits and regulations that may be required. Note: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife and other agencies may also have additional requirements.

See the following for specific types of permits:

Organism and Soil Permits
Organism Permits include Plant Pests such as insects and snails; Plant Pathogens such as fungi, bacteria, and viruses; Biological Control Agents, Bees, Plant Pest Diagnostic Laboratories, Soil Microbe Isolation Laboratories, Federal Noxious Weeds and Parasitic Plants.

Plant and Plant Product Permits
Plant and Plant Product Permits include Plants for Planting such as nursery stock, small lots of seed; Plant Products such as fruits and vegetable, timber, cotton and cut flowers; Protected Plants and Plant Products such as orchids, and Threatened and Endangered plant species; Transit Permits to ship regulated articles into, through, and out of the U.S.; and Departmental Permits to import prohibited plant materials for research.

Other Helpful Links:

  • See the USDA website on importing plants, the inspection stations, how to import plants, etc.