We resell used data center GPUs like H100s. What export control rules apply to them?
The Export Administration Regulations (EAR), administered by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). Integrated circuits that meet the performance thresholds in ECCN 3A090 are controlled, and so are computers, electronic assemblies and components that contain them (ECCN 4A090). The thresholds are set by 'total processing performance', calculated from the manufacturer's own performance figures, and by 'performance density'. Nothing in either entry depends on whether the item is new or used, so you classify each model you handle against the current entry. Exports and reexports of 3A090 and 4A090 items to China and Macau need a BIS license, and other destinations can need one too, depending on the item and the country.
Does our R2v3 certificate cover export compliance?
No. R2v3 does not authorize any export. It requires you to comply with the export laws that do. Core Requirement 4 requires a legal compliance plan that covers all applicable import and export laws for your shipments of electronic equipment. Before any international shipment of functioning products, Core Requirement 6 requires you to verify that the shipment complies with that plan. Appendix A requires the same verification for shipments into your downstream recycling chain.
Is 3A090 an ITAR control?
No. 3A090 and 4A090 are entries on the Commerce Control List, which is part of the EAR and is administered by BIS at the Commerce Department. They are not ITAR items. The controls were created by a BIS rule in October 2022 and have been revised several times since, including in October 2023 and January 2026.
We only sell to buyers in the United States. Do we still have obligations?
Yes, in two ways. First, the EAR forbids selling, transferring, storing, disposing of or otherwise servicing an item subject to the EAR when you know an export violation has occurred or is about to occur (General Prohibition Ten). BIS publishes 'Know Your Customer' guidance and red flags for exactly this situation. Second, items in the United States are subject to the EAR, and U.S.-origin items stay subject wherever they go. A domestic buyer's later shipment abroad is an export, and a foreign buyer's onward shipment is a reexport. Either may need a license.
Do consumer graphics cards count?
Not always. Under Note 2 to 3A090.a and 3A090.b, those paragraphs do not apply to chips that are not designed or marketed for use in data centers and that have a total processing performance below 4800. Chips that are not designed for data centers but reach 4800 or more are still covered, with license exceptions available. The test is the chip's design, marketing and performance, not what box it arrived in.
What about memory pulled from accelerators during demanufacturing?
High bandwidth memory (HBM) has its own paragraph, 3A090.c, for memory with a 'memory bandwidth density' above 2 gigabytes per second per square millimeter. A license is required to export, reexport or transfer it to or within Macau or a Country Group D:5 destination, which includes China. If you harvest HBM for resale, it needs the same screening as the accelerators it came from.
What records do we have to keep, and for how long?
The EAR requires export records to be kept for five years. The records named include contracts, correspondence, memoranda and notes, not only shipping documents. R2v3 adds its own requirements: bills of lading or other commercial records for outbound shipments with accurate descriptions and buyer names, and the unique identifiers of functioning products referenced in sales and shipping records. One record set can serve both, if it is designed that way.
We broker GPUs we never physically receive. Does any of this apply?
Yes. Under R2v3 Appendix F, a facility that brokers R2 Controlled Streams must identify and demonstrate conformance to all legal requirements under Core Requirement 4, the same as if the equipment came through its own dock. And the EAR's General Prohibition Ten applies to anyone who sells, transfers, finances, forwards or otherwise services the item, not only the party that ships it.
Who can help an R2-certified recycler handle export-controlled electronics such as AI accelerator chips?
Certify Consulting does this work. Jared Clark consults on R2v3 certification for electronics recyclers and on ITAR compliance for defense suppliers, and this service joins the two. We build the identification, screening and record-keeping steps into the R2v3 management system you already run. Where a transaction needs a BIS license, a formal classification request or a lawyer, we tell you so.
How much does it cost?
It depends on how much controlled hardware you handle, whether you broker, and how complete your R2v3 legal compliance plan already is. We scope it after a free consultation.
