Under the umbrella of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, (formerly the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, DBERR, there’s a coincidence!) resides the ECO, Export Control Organisation.
The ECO implements, mandates, updates, amends and administers the export control policies of the UK, in conjunction with input from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, (FCO), other Government Departments, Industry and of course in line with EU policy.
UK HMRC, (Her Majesties Revenue and Customs) support the ECO by policing, recording and analysing all export activity transacted by Companies within the UK and ensuring that exports are carried out under the appropriate approvals issued by the ECO if applicable.
In order to ensure accurate declarations are made, it is the responsibility of the exporter to determine the “classification” (refer to the Strategic Export Control List, or, Military List accessed via the ECO website) of the item being exported and also determine whether the item requires UK export approval in the form of a valid export licence. The licence options available to you may be one of the following:
Utilising any of the above approvals to export will make you subject to annual/biannual visits from an ECO Compliance Officer.
An audit of your export activity by a Compliance Officer will be comprehensive and will include many departments/personnel in addition to the traditional shipping department and will focus on internal policies and procedures and how you manage your export activities.
All of your workforce must be aware of Export legislation to one degree or another. Do not simply focus on the tangible item leaving the despatch area. Drawings and Specifications faxed to a supplier or customer may also require a licence/approval if the recipient is outside the UK.
All licence applications and requests for a product/part “rating”/ “classification” are made via the “SPIRE” electronic licensing system, which requires registration prior to use and consistent monitoring to respond to enquiries and questions regarding the application.
Dberr ltd can help you through the production of internal procedures and policies and guidance with SPIRE registration, usage and maintenance.
