Dear All,

I am presently dealing with several clients concerning Export Licensing, and although the UK’s Export Controls Joint Unit (ECJU)  does disseminate copious details about specific sanctions and Licensing requirements, this is not trickling down to many UK exporters, who do not understand the specific regulations, the licences required, the means of application for such licences, or even the need to obtain detailed End-User Undertakings and Ultimate End-User Declarations from their customers. They then wonder why their shipments are being seized by UK Border Forcer at the frontier at the point of export. Worse still, it is taking a long time for UK Border Force to release the offending consignment back to the exporter, and this is affecting business adversely for several UK exporters. Furthermore, the additional bureaucracy caused because of the need for specific GEAs and OGEL Licences for shipments form the UK to or via EU countries is causing even more havoc. And to cap it all, access to specific information through the ECJU is at best limited or scant. It is far from helpful in many cases. Indeed, there are many cases where a licence application is made the the ECJU SPIRE website facility, only for the exporter to be told after a significant time lapse that a licence is not required.

More needs to be done to simplify this overall process and facilitate smoother trading, even where licences are required.