In June, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) published companion rules to harmonize the definitions of key terms in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the ITAR, respectively. The terms affected by the rulemaking include such fundamental concepts in export controls as “export”, “reexport”, “release”, “transfer” and “technical data”. BIS issued its final rule on 3 June 2016, but will continue to consider public comments on a rolling basis. DDTC has issued a proposed rule; the final rule is pending publication. Both rules become effective as of 1 September 2016.