The plasmid is probably unavailable because it has been identified as a “dual use technology” or one having both commercial and military or proliferation applications. This determination was made by the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”), in conjunction with The Australia Group (an international consortium that seeks to ensure that member countries’ exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons ). Therefore, this plasmid cannot be exported without first obtaining an export license from the applicable regulatory body, in Addgene’s case, BIS.
Placing an order for export-controlled material
Addgene’s export license service is currently in its early stages. At this time, only VSV-G and a subset of SARS-CoV-1 plasmids are available outside of the U.S. under this service. As an international customer, you will be able to add these items to your cart and complete our online checkout process. Orders for these items will require a non-refundable export license fee to cover Addgene’s additional processing costs.
During the online checkout process, you will be asked to write a paragraph describing how you intend to use the export-controlled material. Please be as specific as possible, as your answer will be used by BIS to determine whether an export license will be granted.
Your order will be placed on hold after it has been submitted, and we will not be able to proceed with the order until a license has been granted. Addgene has no control over whether a license is granted or not.
PLEASE NOTE: The BIS export license application and review process generally takes 4-5 weeks. Please take this into consideration if you have other non-controlled materials that you wish to order. You may wish to place a separate order for non-controlled materials. Due to export license restrictions, rewards points and promotion codes cannot be applied towards orders containing controlled materials.