Beginning on November 21st, as part of the DDTC’s IT Modernization project, the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) will require Commodity Jurisdiction (CJ) requests to be submitted online via the new Defense Export Control and Compliance System (DECCS) which will interface with the USXPORTS system. Companies engaged in aerospace and defense-related industries, whose activities are subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), have the option of submitting CJ requests to the DDTC for a formal and binding determination as to whether their goods, software or technical data are subject to the ITAR or to the Export Administration Regulations. The DECCS will eventually be used not only for the submission of CJ requests, but also for DDTC annual registrations and ITAR license applications (i.e., for the current DSP-5, DSP-6, DSP-61, DSP-73, DSP-74, DSP-85 and DSP-119 authorizations). The CJ request application will be the first module rolled out in the DECCS. Once all of the remaining modules are launched, DECCS will replace the current D-TRADE system, EFS, MARY and ELLIE. All of the DECCS modules will be accessible through the DDTC’s website at: http://pmddtc.state.gov/.

Once the CJ request module goes live on November 21st, companies may access the DECCS using a web browser such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Usernames and passwords will be required to log in to most of the modules in the DECCS except for the CJ request application. Digital certificates currently being used by companies for their D-TRADE submissions will also be allowed in the DECCS environment. There will be a total of fifteen (15) screens in the CJ application that companies will need to navigate through and complete. As companies are preparing their CJ requests, they will have the ability to save the applications and access them again at a later date. Once the company has submitted its CJ request into the DECCS, a pop-up message will be generated confirming that the application has been received and showing the unique CJ number assigned to the case, which should be used to track the status of the application through the ELISA system. The DDTC’s CJ determination letter will be mailed in hardcopy to the company; however, the DDTC is planning to roll out an automated dissemination process for CJ determinations down the road. 

Companies may continue submitting CJ requests through EFS until November 16, 2016, and no additional CJ requests will be accepted until the DECCS application is released on November 21st.  CJ applications pending with the DDTC on November 21st will be automatically transferred over to the USXPORTS system for continued processing.