Deemed Export Compliance: A Workshop for University TTOs
Originally presented February 16, 2011

Does your TTO engage in any of these activities?

• Employ foreign students in research?
• Conduct research for private industry?
• Use controlled equipment in your labs?
• Give foreign faculty access to controlled data?
• Collaborate with foreign universities?
• Perform defense-related R&D?

If you do, you may already be risking big fines or debarment…

It's true. Under U.S. export control regulations, any of these common university research practices could put you at risk of thousands of dollars in civil or criminal fines or debarment from federal contracts, if you haven't received a "Deemed Export" or technology transfer license. The "fundamental research" exception may not protect you. Worse yet, federal officials have made a special point of emphasizing the application of "Deemed Export" controls to university research and national laboratories.

Still not worried? In early January a federal appeals court upheld the conviction of a retired University of Tennessee professor for passing military secrets. The court rejected the appeal of plasma physics expert J. Reece Roth, who had been found guilty of allowing research assistants from China and Iran to access sensitive data from a U.S. Air Force contract in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. The case marked the first time the government used the act to crack down on the distribution of restricted data to foreigners in a university setting. Roth was sentenced to four years in prison.

Now more than ever, you, your staff, and your faculty must understand and comply with export control regulations. That's why Technology Transfer Tactics' Distance Learning Division, in partnership with The Export Practitioner, recruited a top export attorney and an experienced university export control officer to bring you a critical 90-minute webinar:

Deemed Export Compliance:
A Workshop for University TTOs

*** CLE and CLP credits available ***

This in-depth session is intended not only for university technology transfer offices, but also industry executives whose companies and laboratories contract with universities to conduct sensitive research that could involve controlled technical data and articles. It will provide hands-on guidance on best practices for creating a deemed export compliance program and a thorough review of the latest developments in export controls, including the I-129 visa application revisions and the implications of the Roth verdict.

Moderated by Sam Gilston, editor and publisher of The Export Practitioner, this program will provide:

• In-depth review of:
  • The revised version of Form I-129 (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker)
  • Export Administration Regulations (EAR)
  • The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)
  • The fundamental research exception
  • Commerce Department’s Deemed Export Advisory Committee’s recommendations
  • Advice coming from the BIS Emerging Technology and Research Advisory Committee
• University compliance guidance:
  • Contracting language
  • Information security
  • Key compliance program elements
  • Tools to maintain compliance

PLUS: Analysis on the impact of the verdict in the J. Reece Roth case on university research

Your Expert Presenters:

Samuel M. Gilston
Editor & Publisher - The Export Practitioner
Sam Gilston has over 35 years of experience as a journalist in Washington. Starting in 1972, he has reported on U.S. government regulations, international trade policies, foreign relations and legislation. He became editor and publisher of The Export Practitioner in 2003, but he has covered and reported on U.S. export controls and trade sanctions since 1981 when he founded and became editor and publisher of Washington Tariff & Trade Letter, the sister publication of The Export Practitioner. Mr. Gilston has followed the evolution of U.S. export control policies and enforcement activities from their Cold War days to the current focus on terrorism, proliferation and new countries of concern. His reports have provided insights and analysis of successful and unsuccessful efforts to renew the Export Administration Regulations, as well as the Obama administration's new plans for major reform of U.S. export controls.

Steven Brotherton
Partner - Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen and Loewy, LLP
Steven Brotherton manages the firm’s Export Controls Practice Group with locations in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, CA. He counsels clients on export control laws and regulations, including compliance with the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), and sanctions regulations administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). He advises a wide variety of clients on export control issues, ranging from Fortune 100 companies to mid-size companies and start-ups. Steven has developed and implemented export compliance programs, led audits, investigations and reviews, prepared export licenses and agreements, and has successfully represented companies in connection with government investigations and enforcement actions. He also leads export control classification projects, working directly with engineers, chemists and scientists to assess the applicability of export controls to a given technology.

Michael D. Ferguson
Export Control Manager - New Mexico State University
Michael Ferguson has been employed as Export Control Manager for New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico since 2004. Prior to that, Mr. Ferguson spent over twenty years as a corporate attorney in the energy business. He retired as General Counsel of El Paso Natural Gas Company, El Paso, Texas in 2001. Before that, he was employed by the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.