What is the Entity List (BIS)?
The Entity List is a US export-control register, published as Supplement No. 4 to Part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations, naming parties for whom exports of specified items require a licence that is usually reviewed under a presumption of denial.
The Bureau of Industry and Security adds a party where there is reasonable cause to believe, on specific and articulable facts, that it has been involved in or poses a significant risk of becoming involved in activities contrary to US national security or foreign policy interests. Businesses, research institutes, government bodies and individuals all appear. Treating an addition as a sanction is the frequent error: nothing is frozen, and the restriction is defined per entry by the items and the licence policy the entry states.
What this workflow covers
SCOPE- Read the hit together with the entry's specified items and licence review policy.
- A distributor's parent on the Entity List means a licence reviewed under a presumption of denial, so the order stops rather than being re-routed.
- Restrictions have been extended in recent years to certain entities owned by listed parties, so ownership resolution matters here as it does in sanctions.
- The Entity List, the Denied Persons List and the Unverified List are three instruments with three consequences.
Compliance glossary
TERMS- Unverified List
- Supplement No. 6 to Part 744 of the EAR: parties whose bona fides BIS could not verify; their presence is a red flag that must be resolved before shipping.
- Presumption of denial
- A licence review policy under which BIS expects to refuse an application unless the applicant shows compelling reasons to grant it.
- EAR
- The US Export Administration Regulations, which govern exports of dual-use and less sensitive military items.
Authoritative references
SOURCES- 01Entity List (Supplement No. 4 to Part 744 of the EAR)
U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security
- 02Supplement No. 6 to Part 744 — Unverified List
U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security
Frequently asked questions
Q&A- Entity List or Unverified List: what is the difference?
- The Entity List names parties subject to specific licence requirements, generally reviewed under a presumption of denial. The Unverified List names parties whose bona fides BIS could not verify during an end-use check: licence exceptions cannot be used for them and a statement must be obtained before shipping, but there is no Entity List style licence requirement.
- Does an Entity List hit stop all business with that party?
- No. It restricts exports, re-exports and in-country transfers of the items specified in the entry. Other dealings are not prohibited by the listing itself, although the reason for listing usually justifies a broader risk assessment.
- Where do we get the file?
- BIS publishes the Entity List on its website with a downloadable file, and it is also carried in the US government's Consolidated Screening List. Additions and removals are made by Federal Register notice, so the notice is the authoritative record of a change.