ANNEX I
Licensing System
1. The legal authority for the licensing system
is contained in the Import, Export and Customs Powers (Defence)
Act 1939 and in EC Council Regulation 3381/94. Licences are issued
by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry acting through
DTI's Export Control Organisation (ECO). All relevant applications
are circulated to other departments for advice, principally to
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Ministry of Defence
(MoD) and the Department for International Development (DfID),
in accordance with criteria established by those departments.
Any disagreement between departments is resolved at official level
or if necessary between Ministers.
2. Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs)
generally allow shipments of specified goods to a specified consignee
up to the quantity permitted by the licence, and are generally
valid for two years. Open Individual Export Licences (OIELs) are
specific to individual exporters and cover multiple shipments
of specified goods to specified destinations and/or, in some cases,
specified consignees. Open General Export Licences (OGELs) remove
the need for exporters to apply for an individual licence to export
specified categories of goods to specified destinations; there
are around 20 such OGELs currently.
3. The principal categories of goods (and technology
in tangible form) whose export are subject to control are —
- Military, security and para-military goods as
listed in the "Military List" in the principal Order
made under the 1939 Act
- Dual-use goods, which could be used for strategic
purposes, such as some electronic equipment, chemicals etc, as
listed in regulations made in conformity with EC Regulations
- Any other goods where the prospective exporter
has been told or knows or has grounds for suspecting that they
would or might be used in connection with weapons of mass destruction.
4. The Government published the new criteria
to be used in considering arms export licence applications on
28 July 1997 in response to a written question (HC Deb, 28 July
1997, cols 26-29w). The EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports was
formally adopted on 8 June 1998 as a Council Declaration. The
texts of both were published in the 1997 Annual Report and are
set out as Appendices to this Report.
5. For full accounts of the licensing process, see
Second Report from the Trade and Industry Committee, Strategic
Export Controls, HC 65 of session 1998-99, Evidence, pp62-76
and HC 540, the Special Reports from the four Committees, Evidence,
pp 80-86.
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