An ECCN lookup works in one of two directions. If you already have a code, open its entry on the Commerce Control List (CCL), Supplement No. 1 to Part 774 of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and read the reasons for control and the Items paragraph. If you start from a product, the regulation has no search box that returns its code: you use the CCL alphabetical index, a keyword search or the manufacturer's published ECCN to find candidate entries, then match the item's parameters to a paragraph.
Mixing up those two jobs is the most common way to end up with the wrong export classification. Looking up what a code such as 5A992 covers is a lookup. Working out which code your product has is a classification. This guide covers both, and where each one stops.
Where is the official ECCN list?
Every ECCN is listed on the Commerce Control List (CCL), Supplement No. 1 to Part 774 of the EAR. The CCL is published free on the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) and on the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) website, one PDF per category. It is the only authoritative source. Any ECCN lookup tool or ECCN search engine, including ours, is a way of reading it.
How to look up an ECCN number you already have
If you already have a code from a supplier, a previous shipment or a manufacturer's website, look it up like this:
- Read the code. The first digit is the category (0–9), the letter is the product group (A–E), and the three digits identify the entry. ECCN number structure explained decodes every part, including sub-paragraphs such as .c or .b.5.
- Open the entry in that category's part of the CCL.
- Read the License Requirements: the reasons for control (NS, MT, AT, RS and so on) and the Country Chart columns they point to.
- Read the Items paragraph, which holds the technical parameters. The code is only right for your item if the item meets that paragraph.
- Check the notes. Exclusions and related controls often change the answer.
How to read an ECCN entry explains each block of an entry in detail.
ECCN search from a product
If you start from a product, there is no search box in the regulation that returns its code. The CCL is written in technical parameters such as processing performance, frequency, accuracy and operating temperature. Product names and part numbers are not in it. That is deliberate: two products with the same name can sit in different entries because of one parameter.
Three sources narrow the search. Each gives you candidate entries, and none gives you the answer.
The alphabetical index to the Commerce Control List
BIS publishes an index of commodities with the entries they may fall under. It is a list of candidates. To use it well:
- Search by function. The index lists commodities, so terms such as "oscilloscope", "focal plane array", "bearing" or "encryption" work and brand names do not.
- Collect every candidate. The index often points to several entries for one term, and you need to review all of them.
- Follow the related controls. Entries you find this way point to others (the USML, 600 series) that you must check first.
- Do not stop at the index. It does not classify; the entry's paragraph does.
A keyword search of the CCL text
Search the CCL text for the item's function or its main parameter.
The manufacturer's published ECCN
Many large manufacturers publish their classifications. See where manufacturers publish their ECCNs.
Turning a candidate into a classification means confirming jurisdiction, reading the entry and matching the paragraph with the item's parameters, in the entry's own units. Those steps are set out in how to find the ECCN for your product, starting with ITAR vs. EAR.
Why a lookup is not a classification
Three examples show the gap.
An uncooled thermal camera may look up as "6A003, cameras". Whether it is 6A003.b.4.b, falls under a note that excludes it, or drops to 6A993 depends on its focal plane array and frame rate.
A Wi-Fi router with WPA3 uses encryption, which points to Category 5 Part 2. It is usually 5A992.c (mass market), because the Cryptography Note takes it out of 5A002.
An accelerometer may be 7A001.a.1, 7A001.a.2 or not controlled at all, depending on its acceleration range and bias stability.
In each case the lookup finds the right neighbourhood and the paragraph decides the address. Using the heading alone is one of the most common classification mistakes.
What to record
Whether you look up or classify, keep a record of the entry and paragraph, the parameters you compared, the source (manufacturer, your own analysis or a BIS ruling), the date and the version of the regulation. Export records under Part 762 of the EAR are generally kept for five years.
Common ECCN lookup questions
Is an HTS code the same as an ECCN?
No. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule code is for customs duty and statistics, and the ECCN is for export controls. They are decided separately and neither implies the other.
Is there one ECCN per product?
An item has one classification, but a product with separable software, technology or components may involve several, depending on what is exported. See CCL product groups A–E.
ECCN lookup and classification in ECCN.help
ECCN.help does both. Quick Search looks up entries by code or keyword from the CCL index, free and without limit. The ECCN.help Classification Workflow then classifies. It settles ITAR vs. EAR, offers candidate entries from your description and asks only the parameters the entry turns on, reading figures such as "-60 °C" or "30 WT" straight from your description. It shows the rule that decided the result. It is rule-based, with no AI, so the same item gets the same answer against the same version of the regulation.
ECCN.help provides research and assistance, not legal advice. Verify every result against the regulation.