Reading the USML

What this guide settles

• Category titles orient; paragraphs decide — an item is a defense article only if a paragraph describes it, element by element
• Read the whole category first: notes, interpretations and definitions are part of the text
• Enumerated entries before catch-alls; “and”, “or”, units and thresholds decide the reading
• Every reading is tied to the date of the text it relied on

What you get

• The guide: explanations, method, conditions and limits
• Worked examples: a worked paragraph, a case study on Category XX(a) and ten pitfalls
• Tools printed in the guide: four templates and a readiness check
• Sources with section references and their verification date
• Revisions included for 12 months

Printed tools: T1 · Category screening sheet and category map · T2 · Paragraph parsing worksheet · T3 · USML reading record · T4 · Text and amendment log · Readiness check

Contents

1. Before you start: scope and limits
2. Why the reading decides
3. How a category is built
4. The words that decide the answer
5. The method in six steps
6. Templates T1 to T4
7. Ten pitfalls
8. Case study: Category XX(a)
9. Readiness check

What it does not cover

• The full “specially designed” analysis behind a catch-all
• A genuine doubt between USML and EAR after a careful reading: the commodity jurisdiction route
• Category XXI (case-by-case designations) and Category XVII (classified articles)

Assumed knowledge. The ITAR order of review and the difference between jurisdiction, classification and scope (ITAR or EAR?), the item’s function and technical parameters, and where to read the current text.

Sample pages

Open an image for the full-size page.

Where it connects

Part of a collection

Reading the USML is one of the eight guides of Classification & Jurisdiction (Understand the Rules), available together at €390 instead of €89 each.