Gun and sporting equipment retailer Bass Pro agreed to pay to the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) a $25,000 fine for exporting nine rifle sighting devices classified as ECCN 0A987 to China, Cyprus and Canada.

Wait, did you say Canada? Canada??? As in the 51st state? Surely this must be a mistake. Is that even an export? I thought you could export everything but Justin Bieber to Canada.

Of course, that’s a common misconception, and this case is an object lesson in one of the few things that can’t be exported to Canada. Items covered under ECCN 0A987, such as rifle scopes and sighting devices, have Firearms Convention (FC) as a reason for control and require BIS licenses for exports to all signatories to the Convention, including Canada.

The convention in question is the OAS’s Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials. All members of the OAS except Cuba have signed the convention. The United States, mostly as a result of the NRA’s desire to protect the right of Mexican drug lords to own automatic weapons, has signed but not ratified the treaty.

So even though you can ship a rifle scope to France without an export license from BIS, under the OAS Firearms Convention you can’t ship one to Canada without that license.

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