USML Category I: firearms

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1. What Category I covers

Category I of the United States Munitions List (USML) is headed "Firearms and Related Articles" (22 CFR 121.1). The list sits in part 121 of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). It names the articles, services and related technical data designated as defense articles or defense services under the Arms Export Control Act (22 CFR 120.10). How an item comes to be listed at all is covered in who decides what is a defense article.

The category defines its own terms in a closing note (22 CFR 121.1). A firearm is a weapon not over .50 caliber (12.7 mm) designed to expel a projectile by the deflagration of propellant. A fully automatic firearm or shotgun is one that shoots, is designed to shoot, or can readily be restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. Caseless ammunition is firearm ammunition without a cartridge case holding the primer, propellant and projectile together as a unit.

2. The end items

Paragraphs (a) to (e) list the end items, and each carries an asterisk (22 CFR 121.1). They are firearms using caseless ammunition, and fully automatic firearms to .50 caliber (12.7 mm) inclusive. Next come firearms specially designed to integrate fire control, automatic tracking or automatic firing, with precision guided firearms given as the example. A note adds that integration does not include only attaching something to the firearm or its rail. The last two are fully automatic shotguns of any gauge, and silencers, mufflers and sound suppressors.

The asterisk matters. Every item in a USML paragraph preceded by an asterisk is designated Significant Military Equipment (SME) (22 CFR 120.10). Technical data directly related to the manufacture or production of an SME article is itself SME. The regulations describe SME as articles warranting special export controls because of their capacity for substantial military utility or capability, and the term also covers every classified article on the list (22 CFR 120.36). Paragraph (f) is reserved (22 CFR 121.1).

3. Parts, components and accessories

Paragraph (g) covers barrels, receivers or frames, bolts, bolt carriers, slides and sears (22 CFR 121.1). They are caught only when specially designed for the articles in paragraphs (a), (b) and (d), meaning caseless, fully automatic and fully automatic shotgun designs. Paragraph (h) then lists four groups of parts and accessories.

The first is drum and other magazines for firearms to .50 caliber (12.7 mm) inclusive, with a capacity greater than 50 rounds, and their specially designed parts (22 CFR 121.1). This entry applies whatever the jurisdiction of the firearm the magazine fits. The second is parts and components specially designed to convert a semi-automatic firearm to a fully automatic one. The third is parts and components specially designed for the fire control firearms of paragraph (c) and the suppressors of paragraph (e). The fourth is accessories or attachments specially designed to automatically stabilize aim, other than gun rests, or for automatic targeting, with their specially designed parts.

Much of the category turns on the phrase specially designed. A part or accessory for use in or with a defense article is generally specially designed, but the regulations carve out several things (22 CFR 120.41). They include fasteners, washers, springs and similar hardware whatever their form or fit, and items shown by contemporaneous documents to have been developed as general purpose commodities. How far that phrase reaches is covered in commodity jurisdiction and the order of review.

4. Technical data and defense services

Paragraph (i) controls technical data and defense services directly related to the articles in the category (22 CFR 121.1). It also controls classified technical data directly related to items in four Commerce Control List entries, ECCNs 0A501, 0B501, 0D501 and 0E501, and defense services using that classified data. The paragraph points to the separate exemptions for technical data. Technical data includes information required for the design, production, operation, repair or modification of defense articles, such as blueprints, drawings and instructions (22 CFR 120.33). A defense service includes furnishing assistance, including training, to foreign persons in the design, manufacture, repair or use of defense articles (22 CFR 120.32).

The reference to ECCNs marks the boundary with the Commerce Department’s list. An Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) is the designation used on the Commerce Control List, which forms part of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) (22 CFR 121.0). The Commerce Department regulates the export of items on that list and other items subject to its jurisdiction (22 CFR 120.5). Only classified technical data about those four firearms entries stays in paragraph (i).

5. The EAR paragraph and reserved entries

Paragraphs (j) to (w) are reserved (22 CFR 121.1). Paragraph (x) covers commodities, software and technology subject to the EAR that are used in or with defense articles. A note limits its use to license applications where the purchase documentation includes items subject to the EAR. Such items may go on a State Department license only if three conditions are met. The purchase documents include both kinds of item, the EAR items are for end use with the defense articles, and the application lists them in an (x) entry (22 CFR 123.1). None of the Category I entries carries the missile annotation (MT), which marks articles on the Missile Technology Control Regime Annex (22 CFR 120.10).

Every person who intends to export a defense article must obtain approval from the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls first, unless an exemption applies, and must be registered before applying (22 CFR 123.1). For a Category I item that means a license or an exemption for each export, and SME status for the end items in paragraphs (a) to (e).

Key terms

Firearm	A weapon not over .50 caliber (12.7 mm) designed to expel a projectile by the deflagration of propellant.
Fully automatic	Firing more than one shot automatically, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.
Significant Military Equipment (SME)	Articles in paragraphs marked with an asterisk, and all classified articles on the list.
Specially designed	The test that decides whether a part or accessory is caught by a USML paragraph.
ECCN	An Export Control Classification Number on the Commerce Control List under the EAR.

Every statement above links to the document behind it. The full source list for this piece is on the sources page.

This page describes public United States government programs for general information. It is not legal, regulatory or procurement advice, and it does not address the facts of any particular case.

How Sentfore supports this

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