Export Compliance
Several products in SparkFun's catalog are subject to export restrictions.
If you are an international customer, or a U.S. customer planning to resell internationally, and you order one of the restricted items, you will receive an email after placing your order. You must respond to those questions before your order can ship.
How do I know if I'm ordering a restricted product?
While we do not have a list to refer customers to, we do add notices on our product pages to indicate if a part is export controlled.
Also, please do not hesitate to contact Support if you have any questions regarding export controls for specific products.
What countries are currently on the restricted list, as defined by the U.S. government?
Cuba, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Russia, Belarus, and specific regions of Ukraine (Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk)
This list does occasionally change and we do our best to keep it updated but please contact Support if you have any specific questions.
Please note: some manufacturers further restrict where we can ship their products/components; we have added a notice to those pages with additional information.
What U.S. government entities does SparkFun comply with?
SparkFun complies with several different government entities when exporting products outside of the United States.
Some of the departments and their acronyms are:
- U.S. Department of Commerce: Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).
- They hold the Export Administration Regulations, or EAR. This is where we get the Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) for our products.
- U.S. Department of Treasury: Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
- They have many lists, but one in particular is the Specially Designated Nationals List, or SDN.
- U.S. Department of State
Please Note: This is not a complete list, but includes the agencies we work with regularly.
What does this mean for my order?
Every order placed goes through a compliance software called Visual Compliance.
This software automatically screens all billing and shipping addresses for potential export control violations. Part of this process includes verifying that neither the purchaser nor the recipient is on any U.S. Government list restricting access to certain items.
If you are shipping internationally, or to a freight/mail forwarding location, we may contact you via email for additional information.
Why am I asked a set of questions for an item I ordered?
There are rules under Part 736 of the EAR for General Prohibitions that essentially require us to know the ultimate end user as well as what use this item is going to have. We don’t need a lengthy explanation—just a clear, brief description that gives us a solid understanding of its intended use.
Why are you saying it's restricted when the manufacturer doesn't?
Some of our manufacturers are based outside the United States and are not subject to certain U.S. export rules. Because of this, they may not need to work with U.S. government agencies to obtain the special classification required for each item. However, once the product enters the United States, the rules change.
As a U.S. company, SparkFun must follow all U.S. export regulations when shipping these items internationally, regardless of where they were originally manufactured.
When do I need a license to import an item?
In rare cases, certain products we sell require SparkFun to obtain a license from the BIS before we can ship them to you. This may be due to specific features or functionalities of the product or the destination it’s being shipped to. The licensing process can take time, as it involves submitting information to the U.S. government and waiting for their approval.