Build the checklist around the actual deal: identify the parties, countries, technology, data flows, access points and intended uses, then record the applicable checks, evidence, accountable owner, decision and review trigger for each. A jurisdiction-neutral checklist is a way to organize diligence—not proof that every listed law applies or a substitute for qualified advice on classifications, licenses, transfer mechanisms or local rules.
Define the partnership before you start checking it
A checklist cannot be reliable until the proposed activity is bounded. Start with a dated description of what the parties will do, where they will do it and what will move between them. Include the planned term, launch markets, operating model and any likely expansion.
Map the people, places and flows
- Record each party’s legal name, place of formation, beneficial owners and relevant affiliates. Add agents, subcontractors, banks, resellers and other intermediaries involved in the activity.
- List the countries connected to the deal: where parties and personnel are located, where services are delivered, where systems and data are stored or accessed, and where goods or technology originate and may go next.
- Inventory hardware, software, source code, technical data, know-how, support services and personal data. Diagram where each originates, who can access it, how it is transferred or stored, and any onward recipient or destination.
- Describe the intended end users and uses, not just the contractual purpose. Note planned changes to the product, users, locations or business model.
This scoping discipline is consistent with the risk-based approach in the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security’s export compliance program guidance and the European Commission’s due diligence guidance. Those are examples from different jurisdictions, not universal rules for every partnership.
Name decision-makers and keep a usable record
Assign a business sponsor and accountable leads for trade compliance, privacy, information security, procurement, legal and operations. State who can approve the deal, who can accept an exception, and which questions must be escalated before access, transfer or launch. If a small organization combines roles, name the individual responsible for each decision.
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For every checklist item, keep a versioned record with these fields:
- Question, scope and relevant jurisdiction or regime
- Responsible owner, reviewer, status and target date
- Source or legal basis consulted, evidence reviewed and date
- Decision, rationale, mitigation or approved exception
- Next review date and event that requires reassessment
Check sanctions, counterparties and diversion risk
Sanctions screening and export-control review overlap, but they are not the same check. Screen the relevant parties and ownership or control relationships under the regimes that may apply; separately assess the goods, software, technology, route, end user and end use.
- Identify parties, owners or controllers, affiliates, intermediaries, banks, ultimate destination, end user and stated use. Record who was screened, against which applicable official lists or sources, using what search terms and at what date and time.
- Document potential matches and how they were resolved, including the reviewer and any escalation. Do not treat a possible match as cleared without recording the basis for the decision.
- Look for diversion indicators in the transaction, route, goods or related technology. Decide whether additional controls, a license or authorization, notification, or contractual flow-down is needed.
- Set re-screening or review triggers for a change in ownership, destination, intermediary, end use or applicable restrictions.
The European Commission’s 19 February 2024 guidance discusses diligence on partners, transactions and goods, including circumvention red flags. Separately, UK business guidance published 22 April 2026 addresses Sanctions End-Use Controls in the context of potential diversion of goods and related technology. Neither example establishes the rules for all countries or transactions: European Commission guidance and UK guidance.
Assess export controls and technology access
Inventory controlled or potentially controlled items and information, then determine which regimes attach to the activity. A technology partnership can involve more than a shipment: software, technical data, services, know-how and access by personnel in another jurisdiction may all need review under applicable rules.
- Assign a qualified person to classify relevant hardware, software, encryption, technical data and services. Preserve the classification rationale and the source references used.
- Map origin, destination, recipient, end user, end use, re-exports and onward transfers. Consider in-country or deemed transfers where the relevant regime makes them applicable.
- Identify license, exception or authorization questions, plus any screening, reporting, recordkeeping and training requirements under each applicable regime.
- Make completion of required review and authorization a release gate: do not provide access or transfer until approvals are in place.
- Reopen the assessment if the item, destination, user, use, ownership or relevant law changes.
BIS describes an export compliance program tailored to an organization’s activities subject to the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), including management commitment, risk assessment and eight program elements. A checklist by itself does not establish compliance with the EAR or any other regime. See BIS Export Compliance Programs.
Map personal data and choose the applicable transfer route
First establish whether personal data is involved and which transfer rules attach to the actual collection, access, storage and onward sharing. Do not assume that a server location alone answers the question; remote access, support, backups and later recipients belong in the data-flow map too.
- Record data categories and sensitivity, whose data it is, the purpose, retention period, systems, recipients and subprocessors.
- Identify each party’s role, such as controller or processor where relevant, and map collection, remote access, storage, backup, support, onward disclosure and deletion locations.
- Determine the legal transfer route and documents required under the relevant law. Assess safeguards and complete the applicable transfer-risk assessment or equivalent test.
- Set contract terms for security, purpose limits, assistance with individual rights and incidents, subprocessor controls, deletion or return, audit evidence and change notification.
- Reassess when data, partner, location, access route, subprocessors or the legal framework changes.
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) updated its guide to international transfers on 15 January 2026; it explains when UK transfer rules apply and steps to comply. The ICO’s separate transfer-risk assessment guidance, also updated that date, notes that UK legislation now calls the assessment a “data protection test.” Separately, the European Commission describes EU standard contractual clauses (SCCs) as pre-approved clauses for certain transfers from EU/EEA entities or GDPR-subject entities to recipients outside the EU/EEA. Whether the rules apply, and which contractual route or module fits, depends on the relationship and current law: European Commission SCC information.
Assess ICT suppliers and secure information exchanges
Evaluate the partner and the technology it supplies, not only its contract terms. NIST’s July 2026 SP 1326 quick-start guide identifies five ICT supplier due-diligence components: Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI), provenance, resilience, foundational cyber practices and supply-chain tiers. Use them as prompts to structure evidence requests and escalation, not as a universal legal test. NIST SP 1326.
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- Ask about ownership, control or influence; product and component provenance; resilience; foundational cyber practices; and relevant lower-tier suppliers.
- Set requirements for data classification, least-necessary access, authentication, encryption, vulnerability and patch handling, logging, incident notice and cooperation, continuity, and audit or other evidence.
- Agree security and access rules before connecting systems or disclosing information. Control changes to access and subcontractors.
- At suspension or exit, remove credentials and access, return or delete information as agreed, preserve legally required records and verify closure.
NIST SP 800-47 Rev. 1 (July 2021) addresses protection before, during and after an information exchange and recommends tailoring controls to risk. It states: “the information being exchanged also requires the same or similar level of protection as it moves from one organization to another (protection commensurate with risk).” The statement is from the publication, not a named-person quotation. NIST SP 800-47 Rev. 1.
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Set IP, technology-access and governance terms
Define what each party brings into the arrangement and what the partnership may create. Put the rights and restrictions into the agreement and make them consistent with the security and export-control decisions.
- Separate each party’s background IP from licensed rights, jointly developed results, improvements, derivatives and third-party or open-source materials.
- Specify who may access, copy, modify, reverse engineer, train on, disclose, sublicense, retain or transfer technology and data; define territory, purpose and duration.
- Set protections for source code, trade secrets, personnel, facilities and technical data, along with audit and incident-response procedures.
- Identify host-country rules that may affect ownership, localization, licensing, administrative approval, disclosure, secrecy or data export and access.
- Agree decision rights, regulatory cooperation, records access, dispute handling, transition support and what happens to IP, data and access on exit.
SEC staff disclosure guidance flags questions about technology or IP licensing to foreign entities and joint ventures, rights to improvements and continued use, foreign ownership requirements, local regulatory access, and foreign laws restricting data export or access. It expressly says the guidance has no legal force or effect and creates no obligations; use it as a diligence prompt rather than binding law. SEC staff guidance on international technology and IP risks.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Compare partner or operating-model options consistently
If the deal team is choosing among partners, destinations or operating models, score each option on the same dimensions. Weight the dimensions for the transaction’s facts, document why they matter, and record the reason for any exception. This is a comparison method, not a universal ranking of deal structures.
Best Value
| Comparison dimension | Evidence or decision to compare |
|---|---|
| Ownership, control and screening | Relevant owners and affiliates, screening results, unresolved matches and escalation needs |
| Export controls and diversion | Classification rationale, destinations, end users and uses, route risk, and authorization needs |
| Personal-data transfers | Transfer route, safeguards, assessment and onward-recipient controls |
| Supplier and security risk | Provenance, resilience, cyber practices, supply-chain tiers and exchange controls |
| IP and technology rights | Background rights, improvements, permitted access and use, local constraints and exit terms |
| Governance and continuity | Approvals, monitoring, audit evidence, incident cooperation and transition arrangements |
Make the checklist a release gate and a living record
Before launch or access, the accountable owners should be able to see which checks are complete, what remains open, who approved any exception and whether required authorizations are in hand. Escalate uncertain classifications, potential sanctions matches, transfer mechanisms, licenses and local-law questions to qualified counsel or compliance specialists rather than resolving them by assumption.
Set reassessment triggers that reflect the deal: ownership, product, destination, user, end use, data flow, partner, supplier tier, business model or applicable law changes. BIS recommends regular risk assessment—at least annually in its guidance summary—and keeping an export compliance program current. That cadence belongs to the BIS export-program guidance; it is not a universal review interval for every checklist item. BIS export compliance program guidance.
This framework is not legal advice and does not determine which country’s rules apply. Requirements depend on jurisdictions, data, technology, end use, sector and deal structure. Confirm current official lists, classifications, transfer mechanisms, licenses and local requirements for the facts of the proposed partnership.
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