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Advance Notification about move of Export Control webpages to Businesslink in Spring 2010

All Export Control Organisation customers should be aware of forthcoming changes to the ECO’s website information.

What is happening?

From March 2010 onwards the ECO’s website pages will principally be published on the Businesslink website – http://www.businesslink.gov.uk. Export Control related content will be accessible in the International Trade theme section of the site.

At the same time the current http://www.berr.gov.uk site will also be changing to reflect the change of departmental name to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The new http://www.bis.gov.uk will be more focused on the policy work of the department.

Finally the SPIRE export licensing database will be updated with updated dual-branded pages to reflect both Department for Business and Businesslink branding.

Basic structure of Businesslink site and interface with Department for Business site

The Businesslink pages will include the bulk of the current Export Control Organisation webpages including practical guidance and information on:

• Sanctions and Embargoes
• Licence Types
• Compliance and Enforcement
• Rating Enquiry Service
• Current Legislation

There will also be clear relevant links to SPIRE, Checker Tools, BIS and other relevant Government Department websites, as well as ECO's Notices to Exporters.

At the same time, the revamped Department for Business site will continue to provide a short introduction to Export Controls as well as providing links through to:

• “Notices to Exporters” update service (including sign up to mailing list)
• UK Export Control Training & Skills Academy
• Background policy information (including on the International Regimes) and new consultations
• A clear link through to the Export Control section on Businesslink.

Why is the website changing?

“55% of people don’t know where to find the service they need. 50% of people say government information is hard to understand”. (Source – Directgov website survey)

The ECO’s website is changing as a result of the government wide Service Transformation agenda. This aims by 2011 to “converge” or transfer 95% government website content into 3 “supersites” – NHS Direct, Directgov and Businesslink. The purpose is to provide customers with easier access to cross-government information and more efficient ways to interact with government via transactional sites such as SPIRE.

What are the benefits?

The Businesslink website is an existing and well-established government site which aims to provide practical information for business encompassing all aspects and stages of doing business.

Although there are some challenges and risks in transferring from the current Department for Business website structure into an established structure provided by the wider Businesslink website, we do anticipate that the move of ECO specific content will bring a number of potential benefits, including:

• Reaching out to new and smaller exporters who are users of existing Businesslink services
• Access to wider cross-government business information on one central portal site including the UK Trade Tariff
• Flexibility to save and print guidance documents as required

How have we been preparing for the forthcoming changes?

Engagement with customers

ECO is aware that our current website is a source of important information for a wide range of customers. Despite the imminent changes, we are committed to ensure the high standard and level of information provided by the current site.

To ensure that the website continues to meet the needs of our customers, the ECO Awareness Team has been engaging with a number of partners and stakeholders including representatives from EGAD, over the past few months.

We conducted some initial user testing on the new Export Control pages on the Businesslink website in November 2009 and further User Acceptance Testing (UAT) will be done in January and February 2010 to ensure that the information moved to Businesslink matches the existing information on the current BIS website.

The initial feedback has been positive and we are ensuring that further development of the site takes into account issues raised in the sessions

Reviewing Documents

During the past few months we have also been reviewing guidance documents. These will continue to be updated in the months after the Export Control pages are published on the Businesslink site. There will be archive facilities available for documentation superceded by more updated notices. ECO will continue to hold this information – please contact the ECO Help line for further details.

Questions

• What do I do about my internet bookmarks?
  When the new pages are published both on the Businesslink and new BIS websites you will need to update all your bookmarks.
• How do I print documents?
  The Businesslink website provides useful functionality which enables you to Print or Save an entire ‘guide’ if necessary. These links are clearly provided at the bottom of every webpage.
• How can I be sure that the information is current?
  The Businesslink site does not currently provide the functionality to publish dates on each page. However where necessary, for instance in publishing Open General Export Licences, enforcement dates will be clearly indicated.
  If you choose to use the ‘print guide’ option then the date will be clearly printed on the print out.
• How can I be sure that Businesslink is an authoritative site?
  Businesslink aims to be a clear and authoritative government website. The authoritativeness of the Businesslink site is provided by the ‘.gov.uk’ URL and by the logos to the relevant government department who produced the content. In the case of the ECO, all export control related pages should have a Department for Business logo at the bottom of each page.

Further Information

For further details of strategic export controls or if you have any questions about the launch of the new Export Control pages please contact the ECO.

This notice is for information purposes only and has no force in law. Please note that where legal advice is required exporters should make their own arrangements.

20 January 2010
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