License Determination and Management

Issues and Challenges

Numerous regulations determine to what extent goods can be shipped between countries. With so many countries engaged in global trade, and with the proliferation of product codes, it can be difficult to know which goods require licenses.

Most products that can be used for military purposes require licenses, but what about those that have both military and civilian uses? Or those that seem like they wouldn't need a license at all, but actually do. Manually conducting a search for license requirements, especially those of foreign governments and agencies, can be time consuming and potentially fruitless without the right expertise.

Once licenses are obtained, they must be managed so the export does not exceed the parameters of the license. In large organizations, it can be difficult to keep the status of a license current if the license is not readily available.

Challenges include:

• Determining whether a Harmonized Schedule (HS) number has a corresponding export control number (ECN) in the US, or other license regulation for the desired country of import and export for each leg of the shipment

• Applying the license to transactions that subsequently decrement its value

• Tracking and monitoring the remaining value or expiration date of the license

How Amber Road Can Help

One element of the extensive set of export compliance checks conducted for each transaction includes license determination. Using a dedicated license requirement engine, Amber Road's Export Management solution analyzes a product, searches the appropriate government regulations, and determines whether a license is needed. The engine uses a series of configurable rules for its evaluation of license requirements for single- or multi-leg shipments. The engine draws content from the Global Knowledge^® system, which is updated daily by Amber Road global trade specialists.

Once a license is received from the issuing authority, it must be managed and tracked for usage and expiration. The license table allows licenses to be stored centrally and then be applied to orders. Centralized storage improves the ability to track and manage licenses across multiple transactions and to search licenses by a variety of criteria. When an order is completed, the license value is decremented by price or quantity. License certificates can be uploaded directly to the license record, and you can also store the contact information of individuals at the issuing agency.