What should small businesses verify before attending an international defense expo?

According to SAM.gov, full registration is required if an entity wants to directly bid on government contracts or apply for federal assistance as a prime awardee. If the business does not plan to apply directly for awards, SAM.gov says it may only need a Unique Entity ID, and some transactions, such as reporting as a sub-awardee, may not require full registration. SAM.gov also says registration can take up to 10 business days to become active, and active registrations must be renewed every 365 days. For any software or hardware that may involve encryption, BIS says there are no EAR obligations unless the item is exported, reexported, or transferred, and certain publicly available encryption items can fall outside the EAR. BIS also warns that open-source code does not automatically make a new item publicly available. Small businesses can use APEX Accelerators for free help with SAM.gov registration and the Federal Service Desk for technical issues.