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SIELS: Revised Standard Conditions, 26 April 2006

From 26 April 2006 all Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs) issued by Export Control Organisation have a revised set of standard conditions attached.

The changes are the result of discussions with industry representatives over recent months.  They do not add any extra burdens to exporters, or impose any additional restrictions on what exporters can or cannot do. 

Why have the conditions been revised?
This is primarily a tidying up exercise.  We needed to expand some of the conditions to encompass electronic transfers (ie the export of licensable goods or technology by email, fax, or similar).  The Export Control Act 2002 made electronic transfers of technology related to military goods licensable for the first time, but the conditions referred only to postal exports, or exports via ports or airports, where a Customs Officer would be present.  This had to be amended, so in the course of this exercise we corrected one or two other anomalies and made the conditions more user-friendly.

Permanent SIELs: what are the changes?
Since electronic transfers cannot be verified as they leave the UK, ECO inspects them during the course of a subsequent compliance visit.  This system has been in place for some time now, so a new condition - condition 6 - exempts these transfers from the normal requirements and instead sets out what records an exporter has to keep to cover electronic transfers in preparation for the compliance visit.  The record-keeping requirements reflect the functional record keeping approach that is followed by our Compliance Officers. 

Another new condition - condition 5 - allows exporters to make sequential postings of technology subject to attaching a copy of the licence to allow inspection by Customs staff.  This is a new relaxation, which puts postal exports of technology on a par with electronic transfers and ensures that exporters who need to post technology in a series of instalments (for example to fulfil maintenance commitments) do not need to apply for numerous licences.

Temporary SIELs: What are the changes?
There are now two sections for the standard conditions.  Conditions 11 to 17 cover temporary exports by air, sea, or post. They have changed little, apart from some simplified wording.

Conditions 18 to 23 relate solely to temporary transfers of technology by electronic means.  If a UK exporter passes technology over to his overseas customer by email, for example, then once it has reached its destination the technology can be downloaded and passed on to others.  Such transfers can never be temporary; so a permanent SIEL, completed with full-end user details, must be applied for so that ECO can fully assess the risk of that overseas customer obtaining the technology. For these reasons, the conditions specifically exclude these substantive transfers from temporary SIELs (condition 18).

We do however, accept that there are times when a UK exporter might need to make incidental electronic transfers in support of his own activity.  For example he might be exhibiting his goods overseas and needs to email technology, such as maintenance manuals or blueprints, to his engineers in the event of those goods malfunctioning.  We would not want to make things difficult for exporters by excluding these incidental transfers.  Condition 18 therefore allows these on a temporary SIEL provided they are the minimum technology required for the installation, maintenance, operation, or repair of the goods listed on the licence; that they are being sent to the same destination as stated there; and that they are subject to subsequent inspection by ECO's Compliance Officers (condition 6).

Click on the relevant documents in the right hand column.

Export Control Organisation
Department of Trade and Industry
3rd Floor, Kingsgate House
66-74 Victoria Street
London SW1E 6SW

Fax 020 7215 0531
eco.help@dti.gsi.gov.uk
 

26 April 2006