Trade, tariffs and industry

Executive Order 13637: Administration of Reformed Export Controls

President: Barack Obama

Updated presidential delegations so State and Commerce could administer reformed munitions and dual-use export controls.

Status: In effect.

Is Executive Order 13637 still in effect? Yes. Active delegation still cited in current defense-trade regulations and State Department administration.

What does Executive Order 13637 do?

EO 13637 reassigned statutory export-control functions as items moved between the State Department’s US Munitions List and Commerce’s Commerce Control List. It delegated Arms Export Control Act powers to State, related import functions to Justice and appropriate dual-use functions to Commerce, and updated interagency review. Current International Traffic in Arms Regulations and State guidance continue to cite the order.

Administration position: Moving an item from the Munitions List to the Commerce list did not make it uncontrolled; it changed the licensing system and agency jurisdiction.
SignedMarch 8, 2013
Defense exportsState Department DDTC
Dual-use exportsCommerce Department BIS

Before and after

Before the order

Older delegations did not fully reflect the Export Control Reform initiative’s transfer of less-sensitive items between agency lists.

After the order

State Commerce Justice and Defense received updated roles for licensing enforcement and disputed classifications.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
State DDTCAdminister defense articles services and brokering controlsContinuing
Commerce BISAdminister dual-use and transferred-item controlsContinuing
Justice and other agenciesPerform import enforcement and review functionsContinuing

What happened next

EO 13637 updated export-control delegations.