FMS Third-Party Transfers

What this guide settles

• FMS is a government-to-government channel: the State Department authorizes third-party transfers of FMS-origin items through PM/RSAT; DDTC handles items bought commercially
• Under the LOA, a company that repairs, integrates or stores the equipment is a third party — “agent” means freight forwarder only — unless it is a prime contractor identified in the LOA and contracted by the US Government
• The purchasing government submits the request; where a private-entity request is required, the company signs assurances and its government provides the COPE layer
• Other uses and disposal need consent too; FMS items moved to the CCL can still need it; a DCS TAA never authorizes possession of FMS hardware

What you get

• The guide: explanations, method, conditions and limits
• Worked examples: what State asks for, the two layers of assurances, Congressional certification and its MRO exception, LOA conditions in the plant, who does what, an illustrative MRO case and ten pitfalls
• Tools printed in the guide: four templates, including a TPT data pack, and a readiness check
• Sources with section references and their verification date
• Revisions included for 12 months

Printed tools: T1 · Origin and transfer event sheet · T2 · TPT data pack · T3 · Assurance and access control record · T4 · Consent conditions and close-out · Readiness check

Contents

1. Before you start: scope and limits
2. Why FMS is different
3. The rule in one page
4. The request and the assurances
5. The method in six steps
6. Templates T1 to T4
7. Ten pitfalls
8. Case study: the repair shop
9. Readiness check

What it does not cover

• Items bought commercially (DCS)
• Grant programmes and excess defense articles
• Classified items and cryptography

Assumed knowledge. Knowing how the item is classified today — USML or CCL — and how DCS retransfers work, for contrast.

Sample pages

Open an image for the full-size page.

Where it connects

Part of a collection

FMS Third-Party Transfers is one of the eight guides of ITAR: Licenses, Agreements & Transfers (Understand the Rules), available together at €390 instead of €89 each.