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What Is an ECCN and How Do You Find It?

An ECCN (Export Control Classification Number) is a five-character code, such as 3A001, that identifies an item on the U.S. Commerce Control List. It records what your product is for export-control purposes. It does not decide by itself whether you need an export license. That answer also depends on where the shipment is going, who receives it, and what they will use it for.

Most commercial products are not on the list at all and are designated EAR99. According to the International Trade Administration, EAR99 items generally don't need a license, but they can need one if they're going to an embargoed or sanctioned country, to a party of concern, or for a prohibited end use.

This page is general information, not legal advice. For a question about a specific product, the same trade.gov page lists phone numbers for export counselors at the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).

What an ECCN tells you, and what it doesn't

The Commerce Control List (CCL) is the list of items BIS controls for export. It's split into ten categories, numbered 0 through 9, covering areas such as electronics, computers, and sensors, and each ECCN points to one entry in the Interactive Commerce Control List. BIS calls knowing your ECCN a key step in working out whether you need a license, but it's only one input. The license decision combines the classification with the destination, the recipient, and the end use.

An ECCN is also separate from an HS code or Schedule B number, the codes used for tariffs and export trade reporting. BIS describes the ECCN as entirely unrelated to both, so knowing your HS code doesn't tell you your ECCN.

How to find your ECCN

BIS describes three ways to classify an item. If you resell or private-label a product you didn't design, they usually make sense in this order:

  • Ask the manufacturer. The manufacturer, producer, or developer may already know the ECCN. Codes can change over time, so BIS recommends checking what they give you against the current list.
  • Classify it yourself. Compare your product's technical specs with the entries in the Interactive Commerce Control List, the searchable version BIS publishes. BIS notes that this takes a technical understanding of the item and of how ECCNs are structured. If your item is subject to the export rules but no entry describes it, it's EAR99.
  • Ask BIS for an official classification. You file a classification request under Section 748.3 of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) through SNAP-R, BIS's online application system, and BIS identifies the correct ECCN.

Check the destination, the buyer, and the end use

Once you know the classification, look at the shipment itself. BIS country guidance links to the Commerce Country Chart, which shows whether a classified item needs a license for a given country. The chart doesn't apply to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, or Syria; those countries fall under separate embargo rules.

Then check who you're selling to. The Consolidated Screening List combines the export screening lists of the U.S. Departments of Commerce, State, and Treasury into one search. If a buyer or end user is on it, the order may need a license or may not be allowed at all, even for an EAR99 item.

Who handles this if you use a 3PL?

Classification depends on what the product is, and the technical details usually sit with you or your manufacturer. Who supplies the code on a given shipment depends on how the export is arranged between you, your 3PL, and any freight forwarder, so don't assume the other side has it covered. Before you start selling into a new country, settle your product's classification and confirm with your 3PL (and your forwarder, if you use one) what product information they need from you for international orders.

Simpl Fulfillment ships to 200+ countries with UPS, USPS, and FedEx. If you're starting to sell abroad, see our guides to Shopify international shipping and international delivery times, or read how our ecommerce fulfillment service works.