The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) recently published a final rule amending the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to finalize and clarify changes from a June 3, 2016 interim final rule related to the definitions of “export,” “reexport,” and “retransfer.”  For additional information on the interim final rule, see our previous advisory. 

In the preamble, DDTC confirms “that theoretical or potential access to technical data is not a release,” and a release occurs only “if a foreign person does actually access technical data.”  That represents a significant change in DDTC policy and will be relevant for a future DDTC final rule on the treatment of controlled technical data in an encrypted, cloud-based environment. Click here to read more.