PRESENTATION BY MR STEPHEN AGNEW, DESK OFFICER FROM FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE ON “HOW TO FACILITATE LEGITIMATE TRADE IN EXPORT CONTROLS” AT THE ARF EXPORT LICENSING EXPERTS MEETING 17-18 NOV 05
Facilitating legitimate trade through export controls requires more than the issuing of various types of licenses. It is also about the way you go about managing these controls. I’ll come onto the various types of licenses the UK offers in a moment but first I would like to provide you with a short background as to how the UK facilitates exports by seeking to simplify and accelerate the licensing process.
In recent years the United Kingdom has made a number of changes to its export control laws. In 2002 the UK set a new legal framework for controls, which set clearer parameters on the scope and purpose of export controls, and gave greater transparency in terms of the criteria against which license applications would be judged.
These are based on the EU Code of Conduct (yellow booklet) which refers not the 8 criteria for the considerations of licence applications. The CoC sets the minimum standards that all EU members have agreed to apply.
For example criteria 1c covers our commitments to the E.C Regimes. All UK Licence applications are considered against this criteria. There are no exceptions.
Early in 2004 we extended further our export controls by introducing new controls on –
- the electronic transfers of military technology,
- trafficking and brokering,
- end-use controls on technical assistance provided from the UK or by a UK person outside the EU to a non-EU WMD programme; and
- end-use controls on the transfer by any means of software or technology within the UK, or from outside the UK, where there is reason to believe it may be used outside the EU in a WMD programme.
Given the scope of these changes, exporters were concerned that they would present too much of an administrative burden and would hinder their ability to compete internationally. To implement these laws effectively it was vital to have the support of those affected and work together to ensure that both government and business needs were met. We therefore carried out an extensive awareness campaign by visiting exporters or by providing them with guidance material. We also setup dedicated help line and provide advice via a website. Through these efforts the introduction of the new controls has proved to be manageable.
While extending our controls, if we were to ensure a high degree of compliance and keep exporters on side it was important to continue to improve the quality of service provided. We therefore have published performance targets which set strict limits on the time we can take to make licensing decisions. These assist exporters by allowing them some certainty when making commitments to their customers.
One of our main targets is to process 70% of basic applications within 20 working days. In order to achieve this it was necessary to create a sort of virtual single licensing community made up of all the government departments with responsibility for administering export controls. These comprise our Department of Trade and Industry, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence and, where sustainable development issues are involved, Department For International Development.
Within the Department of Trade and Industry, the UK operates a central licensing authority, known as the Export Control Organisation. This is the immediate point of contact for exporters on all licensing issues and it's chief task is to process applications for licences to export controlled military and dual-use goods and technology from the UK. With around 160 staff, about 10,000 applications a year are processed.
In order to operate effectively our virtual licensing community adopted its own mission statement, produces a newsletter, and holds regular joint management meetings and joint staff training programmes. This created a sense of identity and shared purpose which brought much more impetus to performance. This was backed by tangible measures such as new business processes (notably what we call the "Smart Front End" which filters out and fast-tracks around 50% of standard applications) and a better-designed suite of performance targets. For example to complete 70% of basic applications in 20 days and 95% in 60 days. The result was that in 2003 and 2004 we exceeded the main targets. Feedback generally from exporters has been very good.
Despite this our objective is to continue to improve efficiency. We are increasing the capabilities of staff through better on-the-job training programmes and multi-skilling so they can deal with all types of licences. We are constantly looking at ways of streamlining business processes to take out unnecessarily cumbersome procedures and requirements. We seeking to make better use of the information we hold on exporters so that we can be more proactive in spotting problem companies and addressing them directly. We also want to raise the competence of exporters to understand and comply with the system. To this end we have improved the range and frequency of our regular seminars, which are now held in the regions as well as in London and which are graded in beginner, intermediate and advanced categories.
We are also building on these existing measures in new ways. We are developing more exporter "self-help" tools which will be available via our website. The first one is called "Goods Checker" which will enable an exporter to identity whether his goods are subject to control, and in which category of the strategic export control lists. This should be available shortly. We are looking to work with partners wherever possible to ensure that our services reach the widest possible audience. We have already collaborated successfully with the Defence Manufacturers Association in delivering training seminars. We also want to deepen our dialogue with UK exporters. We already have an advisory committee of the major relevant trade associations. Recently we have agreed to set up working groups to consider in more detail some of the issues in the operation of the system and wider policy which are of mutual interest.
We also intend to develop our IT systems. The first priority is to improve internal workflows, although later we would like to offer application tracking facilities for exporters and electronic licences sent direct to our Customs authorities.
Finally we want wherever possible to de-mystify the export control process. For example we have recently put on our website a note explaining how we operate the WMD catch-all control which amongst other things identifies the type of goods commonly caught. It is only through these efforts that we can work towards maintaining the support we have, and the high rates of compliance, from companies.
So, with the machinery to implement the licensing of export controls set up, what types of licence does the UK's virtual licensing community administer? The UK offers several types, all of which, while being designed to control exports, are also aimed at facilitating trade through managing risk.
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