What’s the deal with 5 axis export controls?

While browsing through our products, or in the process of purchasing them - you may have noticed some parts of our sales process related to exporting that you don’t see when purchasing a 3 axis CNC mill or a 3D printer.  This is due to the fact that 5 axis CNC milling machine exports are regulated by the United States Bureau of Industry and Security to prevent nuclear proliferation.  This may come as a surprise with the size of our machines, however the base technology needed for simultaneous 5 axis contouring is the same at any scale.

Here’s some areas where you will see this come into play in our sales process:

 Export licenses required in certain countries

There are certain countries(the NP1 list on this site) where we are required to apply for and receive an export license for each machine from the Bureau of Industry and Security for each machine shipped to that country.  This process involves the end user filling out some documentation stating how they will be using the machine.  We use that information to apply for an export license and various departments of the government review the end use and end user for approval.  This process can take anywhere from 6-16+ weeks.  Once we receive the license, we can accept the order and ship the machine.

Consolidated Screening List Checks

Prior to shipping our machines to any customer, we search the Consolidated Screening Lists to ensure that they are not on any of them. This list compiles a number of lists from various state departments.

Destination Control Statements

You will notice that all machines and Kinetic Control invoices and purchases via our website contain the following statement:

These items are controlled by the U.S. government and authorized for export only to the country of ultimate destination for use by the ultimate consignee or end-user(s) herein identified. They may not be resold, transferred, or otherwise disposed of, to any other country or to any person other than the authorized ultimate consignee or end-user(s), either in their original form or after being incorporated into other items, without first obtaining approval from the U.S. government or as otherwise authorized by U.S. law and regulations.

This is called a Destination Control Statement and it is how we communicate to our customers that they are not allowed to re-export the machine without approval from the U.S. government.  This is important for our customers to keep in mind if you decide to sell your machine at some point.  In general, we strongly advise against selling your machine to someone outside of your country.  If you would like to sell it to someone within your country, you are always welcome to reach out to us to search the Consolidated Screening List mentioned above.

Forwarding

A common instance that we run into is when someone who is in a country that requires an export license has a friend or family member in the United States or is aware of U.S. based freight forwarder.  There can be the misconception that we are not allowed to ship the machine without an export license but someone else would be able to.  When these situations arise and we are aware of them, we will not ship the machine without an export license even if it is first going to a U.S. based address.  We are also on the lookout for when a machine is going to what appears to be a freight forwarder to prevent that from happening.  It is important to know that if you use a friend or family member’s address in the U.S. and they forward the machine to you, they will be violating U.S. export law.

These are the main ways that we see export compliance effect our customers.  We have learned a lot over the years on the subject and have developed a robust Export Compliance Program to make sure that we are doing our part to operate within the regulations.  While this can be a significant inconvenience for some of our customers - we always appreciate your cooperation and understanding in helping us process through orders with these regulations in mind.

If you have further questions about export compliance related to 5 axis CNC machines or any other product - the Bureau of Industry and Security has many resources available including export counselors who are able to answer your questions.  You can visit their website here.