Announcements
Federal ban on drones from certain foreign entities
Effective December 22, 2025, federal regulations under FAR 52.240-1 and DoD 1260H prohibit the procurement or use of drones manufactured by restricted foreign entities, such as DJI and Autel, in federally funded research. These mandates are designed to protect national security and sensitive research data from foreign influence. Before purchasing or operating any drone for a federal project, you must verify the manufacturer against the current SAM.gov prohibited lists and confirm your specific award terms. Failure to comply may result in the loss of federal funding, contract termination, or legal penalties.
Read more: Federal ban on drones from certain foreign entities
About
University of Hawai‘i (UH) faculty, staff and students, as well as RCUH employees hired to support UH-related programs (collectively referred to as “UH community”), are likely to come into contact with federal regulations that impose access, dissemination or participation restrictions on the use and/or transfer of commodities, technical data, or the provision of services subject to United States (US) export controls for reasons of national security, foreign policy, anti-terrorism or non-proliferation. Therefore, the UH community must be cognizant of US export control laws and regulations and be prepared to take the necessary steps to ensure compliance.
What is the Office of Export Controls?
The Office of Export Controls (OEC) is tasked with certain administrative processes that are primarily related to restricted research (i.e., export-controlled research) and other related business activities of the University of Hawai‘i (UH). OEC serves as the main resource for UH administrators, researchers, and other faculty and staff who are involved with research projects and business matters which require the review and execution of certain types of unfunded contractual agreements that may be subject to various U.S. laws and regulations. OEC is responsible for assisting researchers in complying with complex and ever-changing U.S. laws and regulations which regulate certain strategic information, technology, and services, through training, providing advice and classification assistance, preparing and submitting license applications to Federal agencies, conducting assessments, and administering applicable UH policies and procedures.
Contact the UH Office of Export Controls (OEC) for any questions pertaining to export control scenarios, interpretation of regulations or UH policy, to request export licenses, or to schedule departmental training.