On August 13, 2018, the President signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 (NDAA). Section 889 of the NDAA prohibits federal agencies from entering into contracts, including research contracts, with entities that use equipment, systems, or services that, in turn, use Chinese-origin telecommunications equipment or services deemed to be a “substantial or essential component of any system” or “critical technology as part of any system.”
Section 889 further prohibits the use of federal loan or grant funds involving US institutions to procure or obtain covered telecommunications equipment or services. These prohibitions became effective August 13, 2020.
Targeted Chinese-origin equipment or services include telecommunications equipment or video surveillance equipment or services produced such entities. Specifically, UMBC is concerned with any affiliates of Huawei Technologies Company and ZTE Corporation A current list of entities, subsidiaries or affiliates of such entities is found at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute ASPI (https://unitracker.aspi.org.au/)
Screening Procedures
The ORPC uses Restricted Party Screening (RPS) on VisualCompliance.com for export control review to determine if a foreign entity with whom you desire to do business is on any government issued restricted, blocked, or denied party lists. A foreign entity can be an organization, a higher education institution or business that is located outside of the United States.
RPS also helps UMBC to decide if a specific export control license is required or if there are any “red flags” (such as an entry about a foreign entity on a selected government list or other databases) that would prevent UMBC from engaging in a collaboration. This screening is performed to ensure compliance with federal export control regulations.
Please complete the equipment screening form and submit before creating a requisition for purchases of goods or services or the planned shipment of any of the above items using federal grant funds. Allow for five (5) business days for the ORPC to perform export control screening. Additional information and/or time may be required if there is an issue with the entity being screened. For any additional questions or concerns please OPRC.