By Donald Pearce, Sentinel LLC
ECTI Core Instructor
On September 14, 2026, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) released revision 5.3 of the U.S. Department of State's Guidelines for Preparing Agreements. The changes address new fields added to the DSP-5 form based on updated information requirements when it is used as a vehicle to transmit Technical Assistance Agreements (TAA), Manufacturing License Agreements (MLA), and Warehouse & Distribution Agreements (WDA) to DDTC licensing. The revised guidance also reconciles discrepancies between the Contract Employee clauses found in the Technical Assistance Agreement/Manufacturing License Agreement Template and the Agreement Language for Non-Regular Contract Employees.
These updates reflect new requirements stemming from DDTC’s Data Collection Modernization (DCM) initiative which is described as “a multi-phase effort… to modernize how the Department collects, manages, and uses data across its digital services.” The initiative seeks to improve the process for defense exports by enhancing the quality of collected data, streamlining application submissions, and delivering a more modern, user-friendly interface for exporters.
This revision also reconciles the “Contract Employee” clauses in TAA and MLA templates, and the Agreement Language for Non-Regular Contract Employees. A September 1, 2026 revision to ITAR § 124.8(a)(5) modified a clause to enable U.S. and foreign parties to transfer technical data and defense services using the § 126.7 AUKUS exemption. However, the cite was not in the agreement language template. This is now reflected and should be updated before your next agreement goes out, especially if it involves a transaction that can benefit from the AUKUS exemption.
If your active agreement does not include the updated clause and you wish to reexport or retransfer under AUKUS, the U.S. agreement holder can amend the agreement to update that clause. This may be done as a minor or major amendment, and can be done next time you need to make a change: there is no requirement to submit an amendment solely to add the language if you are not using the exemption.