For researchers in the Health Sciences or researchers working with biological items, there are some items that will require export licenses prior to being shipped outside the U.S.
These include attenuated forms of bacteria, toxins, virus, and fungi or animals or material containing those items that are on the Export-Restricted Biologicals and Select Agents list.
There are many items that are not select agents but do require export licenses even for minuscule quantities or for snippets of genomic elements. Contact export control if you have any planned shipment of these items so we can file the required export licenses which may take 6 weeks or longer to obtain.
The following article provides additional information for researchers on the Department of Commerce on biological and biosafety items http://www.absa.org/abj/abj/091402KreppRegulatoryNews.pdf
Foreign national licensing for researchers in the health sciences or biological sciences are covered in this posting on how not to run afoul of deemed export regulations http://virtualbiosecuritycenter.org/blog/op-ed-how-not-to-run-afowl-of-deemed-export-regulations
and in this regulatory guidance http://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/policy-guidance/product-guidance/chemical-and-biological-controls/14-policy-guidance/deemed-exports/111-deemed-export-and-fundamental-research-for-biological-items
