The SBIR and STTR Extension Act of 2022 (Extension Act), Public Law 117–183 (Sep. 30, 2022), amended section 9 of the Act; 15 U.S.C. 638(g)(13)–(17), (o)(17)–(21), and (vv), to require small businesses applying for SBIR or STTR awards to disclose information about the applicant’s investment and foreign ties. In response, SBA amended Section 9(a) of the Policy Directive and added an appendix to address responsibilities of Participating Agencies to collect disclosures of information about the applicant’s investment and foreign ties, as required by the Extension Act. This amendment provided a common template, based on the statutory language in the Act, to uniformly capture the required disclosures.
Per the Extension Act, the term ‘‘foreign country of concern’’ means the People’s Republic of China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, or any other country determined to be a country of concern by the Secretary of State.
Current List of Foreign Countries of Concern:
- the People’s Republic of China
- the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
- the Russian Federation
- the Islamic Republic of Iran
Currently, there are no additional countries of concern designated for the purposes of the SBIR and STTR program by the Secretary of State.
