Five-Year Records Retention Requirement for Export Transactions and Boycott Actions

The five year records retention requirement enables BIS to detect violations from records up to five years old to correspond with the five year statue of limitations and prove that a violation did or did not take place. All parties involved in the export, reexport, transshipment or diversion of items subject to the EAR and the U.S. party involved in the export transaction involving a reportable boycott request are required to maintain records of these activities for a period of five years. The frequency depends upon how often each entity is involved in an export transaction or one involving a reportable boycott request. This five-year retention period for export documents to be retained corresponds with the five year statute of limitations for criminal actions brought under the ECRA predecessor acts (18 U.S.C. 3282) and the five year statute for administrative compliance proceedings (28 U.S.C. 2462).

The latest form for Five-Year Records Retention Requirement for Export Transactions and Boycott Actions expires 2023-08-31 and can be found here.

Exports

Federal Enterprise Architecture: International Affairs and Commerce - Global Trade