This paper describes the United States legal and regulatory regimes for the export of various controlled and hazardous substances, including drugs, pesticides, chemicals, radioactive materials, and hazardous wastes. These substances are controlled by a variety of statutes: drugs by the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), pesticides by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA); chemicals intended for commercial use by the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); chemicals for consumer use by the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) and, if hazardous, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA); ozone depleting chemicals by Title VI of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990; radioactive materials by the Atomic Energy Act (AEA); and hazardous wastes by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRAV).
A comparison of these statutes and implementing regulations reveals that there is no single, unified approach in United States law to regulating the export of controlled or hazardous substances. Most of these statutes have notification, recording, reporting, and labelling requirements, but specific provisions vary from statute to statute. For example, most, but not all, of these statutes require that the exporter notify the appropriate regulatory agency prior to shipment. While some require notification to the importing country, only one requires that the importing country consent to the shipment. Five statutes have labelling requirements, but only one requires that the label be in the language of the importing country. Two statutes restrict retransfer to third countries, but only one places additional restrictions on the importer’s practices.
This paper provides a comparative overview of these statutes and their implementing regulations, followed by more detailed, statute-by-statute descriptions. Although they have yet to be incorporated into the U.S. regulatory regime, the export provisions of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and Their Disposal have been included as an appendix.