Deemed Exports FAQs - Q.14: If I believe the “part,” “component,” “accessory,” “attachment,” or “software” I am classifying is likely ‘released’ under paragraph (b) because it likely meets the criteria of one of the paragraph (b) ‘releases,’ is it acceptable to skip.....
Q.14: If I believe the “part,” “component,” “accessory,” “attachment,” or “software” I am classifying is likely ‘released’ under paragraph (b) because it likely meets the criteria of one of the paragraph (b) ‘releases,’ is it acceptable to skip paragraph (a) and proceed immediately to reviewing paragraph (b) first?
A.14: Yes, this is referred to informally as the review-paragraph-(b)-first track for analyzing "specially designed." As was noted in response to Specially Designed Q.12 above, if an item is NOT ‘caught,’ under (a), then there is no need to review paragraph (b) for "parts," "components," "accessories," "attachments," or "software." However, the converse also applies. If an item is ‘released’ under paragraph (b) (assuming you are not reviewing a decontrol that uses "specially designed"), then there is no need to review paragraph (a), because you have already determined the "part," "component," "accessory," "attachment," or "software" is ‘released’ from "specially designed." For example, assume you have a fastener you are trying to classify. A fastener is a "part" that is specified under paragraph (b)(2) of "specially designed" as not being "specially designed." Therefore, if you have a fastener, you simply can review paragraph (b)(2) and once you confirm a fastener is specified as one of the "parts" or minor "components" ‘released’ from "specially designed," your analysis of "specially designed" is done.