U.S.Dept of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security Office of Exporter Services is who I spoke with and instructed me to write" ECCN 0A987 is NLR (No License Required) To Scotland and place it in the #17 License No. Box on the USPS Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note-CP72 .
That probably is the correct procedure for an item that does not fall under 'controlled items'. Rifle scopes however have been 'controlled items' for several years now... unless that has changed in the last month.
I hope the laws have changed but until I see it in a dated official writing from a government website stating rifle scopes no longer are 'controlled items' and require no export licensing, I won't believe it has changed.
Just a few instances taken from Government websites:
Export of Rifle Scopes - On July 24, 2008, Euro Optics Inc. was sentenced in the Middle District
of Pennsylvania to a $10,000 corporate fine, $800 special assessment, and five years of corporate
probation. On March 17, 2008, Euro Optics Inc. pled guilty to violating the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act and the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations related
to exports of Department of Commerce and Department of State-controlled rifle scopes to various
countries without the required licenses. This was a joint case with the U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement/Philadelphia. (Other Dual Use)
Commerce Department Penalizes New Hampshire Firm for Exporting Firearms Equipment Without Licenses
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement Michael J. Garcia announced today that the Department of Commerce has imposed a $25,000 civil penalty on Thompson/Center Arms Co., Inc. of Rochester, New Hampshire, in settlement of allegations that the company exported rifle and pistol scopes from the United States without the required export licenses.
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) alleged that on five occasions in 1998, Thompson/Center Arms Co., Inc. exported rifle and pistol scopes to Argentina, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland without the export licenses required by the Export Administration Regulations. Thompson/Center Arms Co., Inc. has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $25,000 to settle these charges. Payment of $12,500 of the penalty was suspended and will be waived after one year, provided that the company does not commit any violations during that one-year period.
Firearms Manufacturer Penalized for Unlicensed Exports of Rifle Scopes
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement Michael J. Garcia today announced that Sturm, Ruger and Company, Inc., of Southport, Conn., has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $11,000 to settle an allegation that it exported rifle scopes to Oman without the required license. A license is required to export the rifle scopes to most destinations in order to ensure that the scopes will not be used to violate human rights.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) had alleged that Sturm, Ruger had sent a shipment of 12 rifle scopes from the United States to Oman without obtaining the required export license from BIS. The $11,000 penalty is the maximum authorized for that charge.
