Export Compliance Resources: Official Government Tools by Country

Eight jurisdictions. Over 50 regulatory portals. And not one of them talks to the others. We spend a lot of time with export managers who maintain browser bookmark folders with 30+ government URLs, half of which reorganized since last quarter. Tracking export compliance information across every jurisdiction where you ship means knowing which portals exist and, more importantly, where each one breaks down.

Key Takeaways:

• The US Consolidated Screening List aggregates 14+ lists (trade.gov, 2025), with separate portals for HTS tariffs, ECCN classification, rulings, enforcement actions
• EU compliance data splits across TARIC (daily updates), EU Sanctions Map, EUR-Lex, and Dual-Use controls with 27 member-state variations (European Commission, 2025)
• Japan's METI End User List grew to 835 entities across 15 countries as of October 2025 (METI, 2025), with most export control documentation available only in Japanese
• India's DGFT revised the SCOMET dual-use list in September 2025, adding a new Category 7 for emerging technologies effective October 23, 2025 (DGFT Notification No. 31/2025-26)
• Australia updated its DFAT Consolidated List format in November 2025 to specify which sanctions measures apply to each listing (DFAT, 2025)

United States offers the most resources — and the most fragmentation

The US provides more free export compliance tools than any other jurisdiction. That abundance creates its own problem: no single portal covers everything. The Consolidated Screening List pulls 14 lists into one search with a free API, but it doesn't include OFAC's Sectoral Sanctions Identifications or the Non-SDN Menu-Based Sanctions List. "Consolidated" isn't actually complete. Nobody tells you that upfront.

CROSS database contains legally binding classification rulings from CBP, and the CCL Order of Review tool assumes you already know a 4A003 from a 5A002.

We've watched compliance teams at 200-person manufacturers toggle between OFAC screening, USITC, BIS tabs all day, each with separate logins and different data formats.

Key resources:

• OFAC Sanctions List Search – SDN, consolidated sanctions, sectoral identifications lookup
• Consolidated Screening List – 14 lists from Commerce, State, Treasury with free API
• HTS code lookup via USITC – official Harmonized Tariff Schedule, downloadable in multiple formats
• USITC DataWeb – tariff rates by product with trade data and FTA rates
• CBP CROSS Database – legally binding customs classification rulings
• Commerce Control List / CCL – ECCN classification, Country Chart, license requirements
• BIS SNAP-R – export license applications, commodity classification requests (CCATS)
• OFAC Enforcement Actions – settlement agreements, penalty amounts by year
• BIS Enforcement – case dispositions, denial orders, don't-ship-without alerts

EU compliance data splits across tariff, sanctions, dual-use portals

The European Union presents a clean front-end for each compliance domain, but the architecture underneath involves layers that don't always sync. The TARIC database integrates all customs tariff measures into a single system updated daily across 27 member states (European Commission, 2025). We've heard compliance officers describe switching from USITC to TARIC as "organized but weirdly unhelpful." The structured codes make sense once you have a number, but keyword searches return less useful results.

EUR-Lex carries the authoritative sanctions legal text, but publication can lag OFAC's Federal Register by 4 to 14 days for independent designations (compliance industry analysis, 2025). The EU dual-use control list uses a different numbering scheme than the US CCL, so a product classified as 3A001 under EAR may fall under a differently numbered EU annex entry. Cross-referencing remains manual.

A 27-member-state layer adds further complexity. Belgium's financial intelligence unit interprets beneficial ownership screening differently than Germany's BAFA. The "single market" isn't as single as the branding suggests. We helped a Dutch exporter who got conflicting tariff classification guidance from BAFA and DG Trésor on the same laser component. Same regulation, two answers.

Key resources:

• TARIC Database – EU customs tariff lookup, duty rates, quotas, trade defense measures, daily updates
• EU Sanctions Map – visual overview of all EU restrictive measures by country
• EUR-Lex – authoritative legal texts for all sanctions regulations and Council Decisions
• EU Consolidated Financial Sanctions List – downloadable XML/CSV of all designated persons and entities
• EU Dual-Use Control List – Annex I items list, updated November 2025 for quantum computing and semiconductors
• European Binding Tariff Information (BTI) database – legally binding classification decisions valid for 3 years across all member states

United Kingdom diverged from EU after brexit and keeps diverging

The UK Global Tariff replaced the EU's Common External Tariff. UK 10-digit commodity codes initially mirrored EU CN codes but have diverged on certain headings. OFSI publishes the UK Sanctions List, which has diverged from the EU on 47 designation decisions since Brexit (gov.uk, 2025). The ECJU handles licensing through SPIRE, but Open General Export Licences come with eligibility conditions running to dozens of pages.

A compliance manager at a Birmingham parts distributor told us they discovered this three weeks into a contract: if you exported under an EU Community General Export Authorisation before Brexit, that authorization doesn't transfer. UK-destined or UK-origin goods need separate ECJU licensing assessment now.

Key resources:

• UK Trade Tariff – commodity code lookup, duty rates, VAT, trade preferences
• UK Sanctions List – OFSI consolidated list, downloadable
• HMRC Tariff Classification Rulings – binding tariff information for UK-specific classifications post-Brexit
• ECJU / SPIRE – export license applications, OGEL registration, Strategic Export Control Lists
• OFSI Enforcement – monetary penalty cases, compliance guidance, annual reviews

Canada mirrors US structure but updates on a different timeline

Canada's Customs Tariff uses HS extended to 10 digits, but national tariff lines differ from US HTS at the 8-digit and 10-digit level. The Canada Tariff Finder helps with CUSMA and other FTA duty rates.

Global Affairs Canada publishes the Consolidated Canadian Autonomous Sanctions List covering SEMA and JVCFOA designations. The list format is straightforward: downloadable in PDF and HTML. No API exists. One compliance officer we know downloads the PDF every Monday morning, runs it through a homemade Python script to extract names, then uploads those into their screening tool. Fragile, slow and one sick day away from a gap. Canadian sanctions typically follow US and UK designations by 5 to 15 business days (Global Affairs Canada publication records, 2025).

Cross-border reality for US-Canada trade: Section 232 tariffs alongside retaliatory Canadian tariffs and overlapping export controls mean a single Michigan-to-Ontario shipment can touch three regulatory frameworks simultaneously.

Key resources:

• Canada Customs Tariff – HS-based duty rates, preferential tariff treatments
• Canada Tariff Finder – FTA duty rate lookup by product and trade agreement including CUSMA
• Consolidated Canadian Autonomous Sanctions List – SEMA and JVCFOA designations, PDF/HTML download
• Export Control List / ECL – controlled goods, aligned with Wassenaar Arrangement
• CBSA Advance Rulings – binding tariff classification decisions on specific products

Australia recently overhauled its sanctions data format

Ten years imprisonment and AUD $2.22 million in fines. That's what Australian sanctions violations carry for individuals, with corporate penalties reaching three times the transaction value (DFAT, Autonomous Sanctions Regulations). For more context, see our guide on Canada Tariffs on US Goods: Exporter Compliance Guide. Not numbers most mid-market exporters associate with Australia.

The DFAT Consolidated List provides an Excel download of sanctioned individuals, entities, vessels. In November 2025, DFAT launched an improved version specifying which measures apply to each listing (DFAT, 2025). Before that update, compliance teams cross-referenced the list against individual sanctions instruments manually. On the tariff side, the Australian Border Force administers the Customs Tariff (HS-based, 8 digits), as well as the FTA Portal covers preferential rates under AUSFTA, AANZFTA, other agreements. Processing times for Defence Strategic Goods List license applications can stretch to several months.

Key resources:

• Australian Customs Tariff – HS-based classification, duty rates, tariff concession orders
• FTA Portal – preferential tariff rates under AUSFTA, AANZFTA, ChAFTA, plus other agreements
• DFAT Consolidated List – sanctioned individuals, entities, vessels. Excel download, updated November 2025
• Defence Strategic Goods List / DSGL – controlled goods, Wassenaar and MTCR aligned
• Pax Sanctions Portal – sanctions permit applications, contact with Australian Sanctions Office
• Australian Customs Tariff Classification Rulings – binding origin and classification decisions through ABF

Japan's export control system operates primarily in japanese

Japan's Customs Tariff Schedule follows the HS system with national 9-digit extensions. The Japan Customs website provides tariff rate lookup and HS code search. English-language access exists but covers only the tariff schedule Explanatory notes, classification rulings, the stuff that actually determines borderline cases? Japanese only.

METI's End User List contains 835 entities across 15 countries (METI, October 2025). A major overhaul that month expanded catch-all controls for conventional weapons for the first time in 12 years, requiring licenses for unlisted goods with military end-use concern. The surrounding guidance (what METI calls "Obvious Guidelines") plus classification logic remain primarily in Japanese. We've worked with teams that spent $3,000+ on professional translations just to confirm a single product didn't trigger catch-all controls.

Key resources:

• Japan Customs Tariff – HS-based tariff rates, English-language schedule available
• METI End User List – 835 entities, catch-all screening reference, updated October 2025
• METI Export Control Item Lists – list-controlled items under FEFTA. Primarily Japanese with partial English summaries
• CISTEC – Center for Information on Security Trade Control. Provides English-language compliance guidance for Japan's export control system
• Japan Customs Advance Rulings – pre-importation classification decisions. Application process available in English

China's controls growing rapidly with limited transparency

China's GACC maintains the tariff schedule with 10-digit extensions, but English-language lookup tools remain limited. FTA preferential rates require separate MOFCOM portal verification.

MOFCOM administers the Unreliable Entity List and broader export controls. The controlled technology list expanded in 2025 to cover rare earth processing and semiconductor-related items (MOFCOM, 2025). Additions appear with minimal advance notice, and no public API exists.

China's export control system operates with less procedural transparency than Western counterparts. No FOIA-equivalent exists. We talked to an electronics manufacturer who spent four months trying to confirm whether a specific gallium compound fell under the expanded rare earth controls MOFCOM's response came back as a single-paragraph letter with no classification rationale. That's the system.

Key resources:

• China Customs Tariff – HS-based tariff schedule, limited English-language lookup
• MOFCOM Export Control Portal – controlled item lists, Unreliable Entity List, export licensing
• MOFCOM Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted from Export – updated irregularly, last major revision 2025
• China Customs Advance Rulings – classification decisions available through local customs offices. No centralized English database
• Enforcement – no centralized public penalty database. Enforcement actions reported through MOFCOM notices and state media

India's dgft expanded dual-use controls to emerging technologies

India's ITC-HS classification and CBIC Tariff portal provide HS-based duty lookup. The GST layer adds complexity for landed cost calculations that other jurisdictions handle separately.

DGFT hosts the SCOMET controlled items list and licensing interface on its portal. In September 2025, DGFT issued Notification No. 31/2025-26, activating a new Category 7 covering quantum computing, advanced semiconductors and additive manufacturing equipment alongside cryogenic systems. The 30-day implementation window (effective October 23, 2025) caught multiple exporters mid-shipment. One client had 14 SKUs that suddenly needed SCOMET authorization. Re-classifying those against India-specific category numbers took their two-person compliance team the better part of two weeks.

India's system carries friction that surprises teams used to Western portals. DGFT licensing still involves physical documentation, and processing times stretch longer than BIS or ECJU equivalents. SCOMET uses India-specific numbering that doesn't map directly to US ECCNs or EU dual-use entries.

Key resources:

• CBIC Tariff – HS-based duty rates, GST rates, customs notifications
• DGFT ITC-HS Classification – product classification for import/export policy
• DGFT SCOMET Portal – controlled items list, Category 7 (effective October 2025), licensing applications
• Indian Customs CESTAT Rulings – Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal classification decisions
• DGFT Enforcement – no centralized public penalty database for export control violations. Enforcement through DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence)

A semiconductor manufacturer shipping to five countries touches US CSL + OFAC + HTS, EU TARIC + sanctions list, UK trade tariff + OFSI, plus METI and DGFT where applicable. Each formatted differently, updating on different schedules. Tools like Lenzo aggregate these sources into a single screening and classification layer, but the fragmentation underneath doesn't simplify.

FAQ

How many government portals does a multi-market exporter actually need?

A company exporting from the US to EU, UK, Canada, Australia typically needs 12+ separate government portals: screening lists, tariff databases, rulings, enforcement records, licensing systems. The US alone requires five separate agency portals.

Can I use the same HS code across all countries?

The first 6 digits are internationally standardized through the WCO Harmonized System. Beyond 6 digits, each country adds national extensions (8 or 10 digits) that differ. A product classified as 8542.31 at the 6-digit level will have different national suffixes in US HTS, EU TARIC, UK commodity codes, as well as every other jurisdiction.

Are there free apis for sanctions screening or tariff lookup?

The US Consolidated Screening List offers a free API through trade.gov. The EU TARIC database provides open data access through data.europa.eu. Most other jurisdictions offer downloadable files (CSV, XML, Excel) but not real-time APIs. OFAC, UK OFSI, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, India do not offer free public screening APIs.

Where can I find recent penalty amounts for export violations?

OFAC publishes all enforcement actions with settlement amounts at OFAC.treasury.gov/civil-penalties-and-enforcement-information, organized by year. BIS posts case dispositions at BIS.gov/enforcement. UK OFSI maintains an enforcement page at gov.uk. Most other jurisdictions lack centralized public penalty databases.

How often do tariff schedules change compared to sanctions lists?

OFAC updates roughly 200 times per year, averaging 3 to 4 changes weekly (Treasury.gov, 2025). Tariff schedules typically change annually with the January HS cycle, but ad hoc trade actions (Section 301, Section 232, retaliatory tariffs) can hit mid-year with days of notice. TARIC updates daily.

The compliance officer who bookmarked all eight jurisdictions' portals last January has already lost three URLs to government website redesigns. That's the real problem with government-source compliance: the data exists, scattered across 50+ portals in six languages, but the moment you build a workflow around it, something moves. Platforms that aggregate these sources into one screening and classification layer, including trade compliance software, Descartes Visual Compliance, plus SAP GTS, solve the data collection problem. The regulatory fragmentation underneath? That's not going anywhere.