Export control

Export control is an area of legislation that regulates the export of goods, software and technology. Some items could be potentially useful for purposes that are contrary the interest of the exporting country. These items are considered to be "controlled". The controlled items are prevented to some degree from being sent to destinations where it is perceived they will be used in a harmful way. Many governments in the world implement Export Controls. Typically there will be legislation that causes potential exporters of controlled items to make a request to a local government department, and that department will assess the desired exports and either grant or deny licences as appropriate.
History.
Export control has been in place in the US since the time of the American Revolution, although the modern export control regimes can be traced back to the "Trading with Enemies Act" in the US in 1917, and the "Import, Export and Customs Power (Defense) Act" of UK in 1939 A significant piece of legislation was the US Export Control Act of 1940 which "inter alia" aimed to restrict shipments of material to pre-war Japan.
Principles.
In most export control regimes, there is legislation that lists many items which are deemed 'controlled', and lists destinations to which sending items is restricted, by different degrees. The lists of what is controlled sometimes arise from some Harmonised Regime.
Categorisation.
Usually goods are subject to categorisation such as the US's Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) or India's SCOMET list or Japan's METI lists.
Some items will be considered "Designed or modified for military use", some will be considered Dual Use, and some will not be export controlled. Dual Use means that the device has both a civilian and a military purpose.
In several jurisdictions, the classifications will consider Goods, Equipment, Materials, Software and Technology. The last two are often considered intangible. Classifications may also be by destination purpose, including cryptography, laser, sonar and torture equipment.
Destination.
Each exporting country will have different relationships with other countries as per International Relations. Sometimes countries will have Trade agreements or arrangements with a group of other countries, and this agreement means there are no licences required for certain goods. For example, within the EU licences are not required for shipping civilian goods to other member states, however for restricted, military goods licences are required.
For any exporting country, some destination countries may be Sanctioned, some may require Licences, some may require record keeping (e.g. using an OGEL) and some have no restrictions. Where records are kept, there may be an audit, or there may be some requirement to report the transactions periodically.
The End User of the goods, or some 'broker' will typically be declared, and similar restrictions apply as to countries.
Some individuals or entities may be listed, so even if the item can could normally be sent to the country without a licence, additional restrictions apply for that individual or entity.
Licence.
For any given item being exported, the categorisations will typically lead to different treatments for a given destination, e.g. 'No Licence Required' (NLR) or 'Licence Required'.
When a licence is required, typically some declaration from the End user will be required. This could be an End User Undertaking (EUU), an End User Statement (EUS) or an End-user certificate. These EUUs will typically include intended use, and make assurances as to the applications for the goods, e.g. not to be used within missiles.
Licences can subsequently be obtained from the appropriate government department in the exporter's jurisdiction.
Once obtained, the licence will typically have some terms which should be complied with. For example:
Circumvention.
During the development of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird supersonic spy plane, the US used 'Third-world countries and bogus operations' in order to obtain sufficient ore to create the titanium for the aircraft
Worldwide.
Organisations for harmonisation of controlled items.
These are known as Multilateral export control regimes
United States of America.
The coordinating body is the Export Enforcement Coordination Center (E2C2), and the web-based licence system is SNAP-R. Several of the functions of the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) pertain to Export Control, including the Office for Export Enforcement.
Companies engaging in export may be required to establish an Export Management and Compliance Program.
There are some particular treatments for Cryptography exports, where the NSA may require separate notification of intent to publish cryptographic software.
EU.
"Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009 of 5 May 2009 setting up a Community regime for the control of exports, transfer, brokering and transit of dual-use items" is the EU Regulation demanding all member states include legislation that supports export control.
The regime for "Dual Use" was established in 2000.
Great Britain.
The principal legislation is the "Export Control Order 2008". There is the similar-sounding "Export Control Act" of 2002 which grants powers to the Secretary of State to impose such rules.
Items are listed in the UK strategic export control lists
It is administered by the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU), part of the Department for International Trade, with a web-based administration system SPIRE. ECJU also manage enforcement and audit of licence compliance.
Licences include Standard Individual Export Licences (SIEL), Open Individual Export Licences (OIEL) and Open General Export Licences (OGEL) formerly known before 2013 as an Open General Licence(OGL).