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The Government is committed to transparency and accountability in export controls.
The Export Control Organisation is subject to parliamentary scrutiny from the Committees on Arms Export Controls (formerly known as the Quadrapartite or "Quad" Committee). This is a House of Commons Select Committee which was set up in 1999. It comprises MPs from the Trade & Industry, Defence, Foreign Affairs and International Development Committees.
The Committee is responsible for examining the Annual and Quarterly Reports on Export Controls and holds the ECO to account.
View a webcast of the evidence meeting held on 21 January 2009.
Read more about the Committees on Arms Export Controls.
Access the Strategic Export Controls: Reports and Statistics website - an online database of export control licensing statistics which provides both bespoke and published reports. This database (launched on 8 June 2009) is now the main access point for strategic export control reports and statistics that were previously published on the ECO website. Licensing information is provided to the same degree of detail as previously provided by the Government's Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls.
Bespoke Reports
The Searchable Database enables users to create their own customised reports (subject to certain limitations). For example users can either produce reports of aggregated details of licensing activity for non-standard time periods (subject to a minimum period) or sort data by categories of equipment to see destinations to which that category has been licensed.
To create bespoke reports, a logon account needs to be created via a simple registration procedure.
Users who have difficulties registering, accessing or using the site should let us know by contacting: eco.spire@berr.gsi.gov.uk
Published Reports
The database gives anyone (whether registered or not) the opportunity to view and download both current and historic Annual Reports, Quarterly Reports and Quarterly Figures.
A brief description of these reports is provided below:
The Export Control Act 2002 made the the publishing of annual reports a statuatory requirement.
The Strategic Export Control Annual Report is published by the FCO in conjunction with all government departments which form part of the strategic export licensing community - the Department for Business (BIS), the Ministry of Defence (MOD), Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID).
The annual Reports are available either via the FCO website at Strategic Export Controls Reports or via the Searchable Database.
The ECO introduced quarterly reporting in addition to annual reporting in 2004, in order to provide more timely information to customers.
The Quarterly Reports contain information which is grouped by destination of export on licences issued, refused or revoked within the designated period for specific types of licences including Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs) and Open Individual Export Licences (OIELs).
The Quarterly Figures outline the refusal percentages and processing times by destination of Standard Individual Export Licences.
The purpose of the tables is to give exporters a better idea of the likelihood of a licence being refused and of the time, by destination, an application is likely to take.
These provide a summary of the ECO's progress against defined and agreed targets.
The statistics are available from 2004 onwards, following the introduction of the Export Control Act (2002).
The ECO's customer service commitments to exporters are available in the ECO: Service and Performance Code
Export Control Organisation
Updated: 23 July 2009
