Preparations continue on the decree on certain documents related to export control of dual-use items

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs received a total of 14 comments concerning the decree on certain documents regarding export control of dual-use items. The draft decree has been revised based on the comments received.

The purpose of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs decree circulated for comments is to meet the requirements of the Regulation (EU) 2021/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council by issuing legal provisions on the contents of these documents. The decree is to be issued under the new Act on the Export Control of Dual-Use Items (500/2024). Issuing provisions on the reporting requirements in a decree improves predictability and operators’ legal certainty as there will be specific provisions on the reporting of global export authorisations, Union general export authorisations, and the contents of the internal compliance programme and the notifications related to the use of the Union general export authorisations. The reporting requirement applies to all exporters using global and Union general export authorisations. The comments received are available in the Gateway to Information on Government Projects.

The draft decree was revised based on the comments received

According to the comments, the objectives of the proposed decree are largely welcome and justified. The proposed decree is considered to clarify and harmonise the requirements for documents related to export control, streamlining official processes. While regulation is not expected to cause a significant administrative burden for operators, the comments emphasised the need to specifically assess the decree’s impacts on SMEs, which often have limited resources. As stated in the comments, global and general export authorisations simplify the export of dual-use items and help reduce the administrative burden on companies.

In the comments, attention was especially paid to section 3 of the proposed decree, which concerns the internal compliance programme (ICP). The section was generally considered to clarify the contents of the compliance programme but was also felt to potentially strain operators. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has considered the comments and made certain changes to section 3 of the proposed decree concerning the internal compliance programme. The section will be clarified so that operators retain discretion regarding the structure and contents of the compliance programme. However, the section will contain minimum requirements for the elements to be described in the programme.

Some commenters requested clarification of section 2 concerning the total value of EUR 5,000,000 to be reported for exports and transfers. The total includes all the operator’s exports and transfers of dual-use items. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has specified this in the explanatory memorandum. In addition, the section has been specified to require all exporters using a global export authorisation to submit a report, but if the total value of the user’s exports and transfers during the previous calendar year is less than EUR 5,000,000, the report submitted need only state that the total value of exports and transfers during the previous calendar year does not exceed EUR 5,000,000.

During further preparation, particular attention will be paid to these aspects. The comments are available in the Gateway to Information on Government Projects.