Tap any paragraph to write a margin note. Your notes collect in the Desk below the text and file under cases with @. The side-by-side margin rail opens on a larger screen.

Code · CFR · Title 22 — Foreign Relations · Part 120 — Purpose and Definitions · § 120.40

§ 120.40. Compositional terms.

449 words·~2 min read·/us/cfr/t22/s§ 120.40·

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

(a)Commodity means any article, material, or supply, except technology/technical data or software.
(b)An end-item is a system, equipment, or an assembled article ready for its intended use. Only ammunition or fuel or other energy source is required to place it in an operating state.
(c)A component is an item that is useful only when used in conjunction with an end-item:
(1)A major component includes any assembled element that forms a portion of an end-item without which the end-item is inoperable; and
(2)A minor component includes any assembled element of a major component.
(d)Accessories and attachments are associated articles for any component, equipment, system, or end-item, and which are not necessary for its operation, but which enhance its usefulness or effectiveness.
(e)A part is any single unassembled element of a major or a minor component, accessory, or attachment which is not normally subject to disassembly without the destruction or the impairment of designed use.
(f)Firmware and any related unique support tools (such as computers, linkers, editors, test case generators, diagnostic checkers, library of functions, and system test diagnostics) directly related to equipment or systems covered under any category of the U.S. Munitions List are considered as part of the end-item or component. Firmware includes but is not limited to circuits into which software has been programmed.
(g)Software includes but is not limited to the system functional design, logic flow, algorithms, application programs, operating systems, and support software for design, implementation, test, operation, diagnosis, and repair. A person who intends to export only software should, unless it is specifically enumerated in § 121.1 of this subchapter (e.g., USML Category XIII(b)), apply for a license pursuant to part 125 of this subchapter.
(h)A system is a combination of parts, components, accessories, attachments, firmware, software, equipment, or end-items that operate together to perform a function. Note 1 to paragraph (h): The industrial standards established by the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and International Organization for Standardization
(ISO)provide examples for when commodities and software operate together to perform a function as a system.
(i)Equipment is a combination of parts, components, accessories, attachments, firmware, or software that operate together to perform a function of, as, or for an end-item or system. Equipment may be a subset of an end-item based on the characteristics of the equipment. Equipment that meets the definition of an end-item in paragraph
(b)of this section is an end-item. Equipment that does not meet the definition of an end-item is a component, accessory, attachment, firmware, or software. \[87 FR 16411, Mar. 23, 2022, as amended at 88 FR 12213, Feb. 27, 2023\]
Connections9 cite this
Citation graph
cites case law
§ 120.40
Compositional terms.
Fed. Reg.×9
Cites 0Cited by 9 across 1 source
★   the supreme law of the land   ★
Don't Tread on Me
E Pluribus Unum — out of many, one

"If you don't know your rights, you don't have any."

Marginalia · a citizen's law index
A research desk, not legal advice. Always read the cited source before relying on a summary.
Questions or an issue? support@self-law.org
disclaimerMarginalia is a research index, not a law firm. Nothing on this site is legal, tax, or financial advice and no attorney–client relationship is formed by using it. Statutes, regulations, and case law change; summaries, search results, AI output, and member posts may be incomplete, out of date, or wrong. Any interpretation drawn from material on this site should be validated by a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction before you act on it.