Commodity Identification

Commodity identification of strategic items is provided by the Korea Strategic Trade Institute(KOSTI) when exporters cannot determine internally whether the item (goods or technology) corresponds/non-corresponds to strategic material. The Institute refers the case to expert groups and reports the result back to the company.

Identification Procedure

  - Access the identification/licensing system.

  - Send an application form of commodity identification to KOSTI.

  - KOSTI receives the application for commodity identification.

  - KOSTI refers the application to corresponding expert group.

  - KOSTI receives the result from the expert group.

  - KOSTI returns the results to the exporter.

  - The exporter and KOSTI manage and do follow-ups on the results.

  - Follow-up management

Exporters and manufactures are obliged to assess in advance their export items prior to shipment and determine if they are strategic items. In determining whether their items requires export license, exporters should review specifications, performance, technology level, etc. of the items to see if they meet the criteria laid down in Annex Table 2 through 6 of the Combined Notice for Export/Import of Strategic Items and Technologies (Combined Notice).

Catch all strategic items refer to goods or technology that can be possibly used for WMD development and manufacturing and transportable missiles. Although these itemsare not classified as controlled items by Combined Notice or international regimes, export license may be required if its end use or end user is unidentified or doubtful by any means.

Exporters or manufacturers who have questions about whether their items fall under the category of strategic items should submit a request for identification service to the relevant agencies (For general industrial goods, the application should be made to Korea Strategic Trade Institute (KOSTI)).

The commodity identification process by the relevant agencies shall be done within 15 days from the date of application. However, in case an additional period of time for examination is required, the deadline for the commodity identification may be extended. The validity period of the commodity identification made by the relevant agencies is one year from the date of issuance.