Export Control Organisation
Overview
Licensing requirements for the export of certain items from Great Britain (GB) to theEU changed on 31 December 2020, existingEUexport control legislation was retained inUKlaw and applied to exports from GB to the EU.
The provisions of the Windsor Framework mean that EUexport control legislation and current licensing requirements continue to apply in Northern Ireland.
An export licence is needed to export controlled dual-use items from Northern Ireland to another country outside theEU.
There are no licensing requirements to move dual-use items from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.
Sanctions regulations under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 may also apply to activities involving dual-use items. These regulations apply to the whole of theUK(including Northern Ireland). EU Sanctions also apply in Northern Ireland.
Dual-use items (including software and technology) are items which can be used for both civil and military purposes. The term also includes all goods which have non-explosive uses or assist in any way with the manufacture of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
You can assess your goods, software and technology against the UKStrategic Export Control Lists to determine whether or not they are controlled.
If your items are not listed on theUKStrategic Export Control Lists, you may still need a licence under end-use controls or trade sanctions and embargoes.
You can use SPIRE, the online export licensing system to apply for all types of export licences.
Read guidance on using SPIRE to apply for an export or trade control licence, or how to register to use a OGL or a GEA.
Exporting controlled items without the correct export licence is a criminal offence.
Penalties vary depending on the nature of the offence, but they range from:
- your licence being revoked
- goods being seized
- a fine and/or imprisonment for up to 10 years
Dual-use items, software and technology
Dual-use items include physical goods, software and technology and are set out in these broad categories:
| Control categories | items |
|---|---|
| 0 | nuclear materials |
| 1 | materials, chemicals, micro-organisms and toxins |
| 2 | materials processing |
| 3 | electronics |
| 4 | computers |
| 5 | telecommunications and information security |
| 6 | sensors and lasers |
| 7 | navigation and avionics |
| 8 | marine |
| 9 | aerospace and propulsion |
Each category is then divided again from A to E:
- A: systems equipment and components
- B: test, inspection and production equipment
- C: materials
- D: software
- E: technology
These items are listed in the Retained Council Regulation (EC) 428/2009, for Great Britain and in Regulation (EU) 2021/821 in Northern Ireland.
Dual-use licenses
You need a licence to:
- export controlled dual-use items from Great Britain
- export controlled dual-use items from Northern Ireland to outside the EU
You do not need a licence to export controlled dual-use items from Northern Ireland to the EU.
Open general export licence (export of dual-use items to EU Member States) allows the export of dual-use items (with both a civilian and military application) from Great Britain to EU Member States and the Channel Islands.
You need a new licence, issued by an EU Member State for exporting dual-use items from the EU to Great Britain.
The EU has added the UK as a permitted destination to their General Export Authorisation (GEA) EU001 to minimise any additional licensing burden for those exporting dual-use items from EU to the UK.
Check if your goods are controlled
Use the consolidated list of strategic military and dual-use items includingUKnational controls to find out whether your goods are controlled.
You can use the OGELand Goods Checker Tools to check if your items are controlled for export from Great Britian.
You can also check the Control List Classification Service on SPIRE, the online export licensing service.
Other items requiring additional permissions
In a small number of cases, dual-use items or information may have a classification of official-sensitive or above.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has set a mandatory requirement for the control of the release by industry of equipment or information with a classification of official-sensitive or above, including in their marketing campaigns to foreign end-users. This includesUKmaterial classified restricted or above, graded prior to April 2014, and internationally security classified material. Control of release is therefore conducted through theMODForm 680 application process.
Find out more about the MOD Form 680.
You can use SPIRE, the online export licensing system to apply for MOD Form 680 approval and all types of export and trade control licences, or register to use a OGL or a GEA.
Read guidance on using SPIRE to apply for MOD Form 680 approval or to apply for an export or trade control licence, or how to register to use a OGL or a GEA.
Military end-use controls
The Military end-use control is a catch-all control set out in Article 12A of the Export Control Order 2008, as amended in Article 2 of the Export Control (Amendment) Order 2022. This means that even if the items which you intend to export are not listed on the consolidated list of strategic military and dual-use items, you might still require an export licence under this control.
See the guidance on