Notice

NTE 2024/01: reminders and good practice from Licencing Unit

Published 10 January 2024

Introduction

The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) would like to wish everyone a happy new year. The Licencing Unit would like to take this opportunity to issue some reminders and good practice for your export licence applications in 2024 and beyond.

Preparing your applications

All applications received are processed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria and noting any trade sanctions, embargoes and other restrictions in place at the location where your proposed exports are going.

You should undertake your own due diligence. For example by reading news stories which can give you an indication about what is happening in areas of the world where there might be export concerns.

ECJU cannot provide you with legal advice. Companies should always take their own legal advice on compliance with applicable legislation.

You do not require a separate licence every time you export. A permanent Standard Individual Export Licence (SIEL) is valid for a specific number of items and lasts for 2 years. You can use your licence at any time over the 2-year period and the licence does not need to be exhausted in one shipment. You can ship as many times as you like over the 2-year period up until the licence volume has been exhausted.

Contact details

If your company changes name, trading name, or moves premises, please update your contact details on SPIRE.

We always recommend that a company has more than one user registered on the system.

Requests for information (RFIs)

Please don’t acknowledge receipt of an RFI or we will need to re-send the RFI to you again.

Remember that RFIs are open for 20 working days. If you don’t respond, we can close your application after the 20 days have expired. You will receive email reminders when the 20-day deadline is approaching.

Please send an email to your Case Officer if you are experiencing any delays in getting a response from your customer. Your Case Officer can help you with an extended RFI deadline.

End User (EUU), Stockist (SU) Undertakings and Applications

We are still receiving end user undertakings (EUUs) on the old templates. Please use the up-to-date EUU template, see NTE2022/29.

If you are using your own EUU template, make sure your EUU includes all the required information in each of the 4 sections of our template. Do not modify your EUU to include information relating to the export control regulations of any other country.

To avoid unnecessary delays, ensure the information on the EUU and your application are correct and match up before you submit your application.

Section 1 (a) of the EUU or SU must show your company name exactly as shown on your application.

Your EUU or SU letterhead must have an English translation when it is not shown in English.

Please ensure your EUU is attached to your application at the time you submit it to us . Incomplete or missing supporting documents often causes delays in the processing of your application.

Ensure all entities named on your EUU are listed on the application as third parties or Ultimate End Users.

Annex A of the EUU must refer to the UK application made by the UK licensee. Many times, we see EUUs referring to the end user, which is incorrect.

Check carefully for any spelling mistakes in your application and associated documents. If there is a spelling mistake on your application, this will be carried through on to your licence.

Make sure the goods on the EUU are in the same order as on your application. This makes it quicker and easier for us and for our advisers to check.

Your EUU and SU should be supplied in a non-editable format, preferably not in pdf format, for IT accessibility reasons.

Amendments to applications or to your licences that have been issued

Please send an email to the Case Officer named on your application before withdrawing an application, we might be able to amend it instead, and this will save time both for you and for us.

On SPIRE, please appreciate that there is a limit to the amendments we can do on an application. We can always help with minor changes, but extensive requests cannot always be made.

Elsewhere, all amendments are made by the licence applicant until the case progresses beyond the Licensing Unit team. At that point, you will need to ask your Case Officer to re-open your application so you can make the changes yourself.

Once issued, licences do not require amendments where the changes identified are minor, for example, for currency fluctuations or small price increases.

Timescales

If you are going to an overseas trade show or have an overseas deadline to meet, please apply for any licences you may need in good time to ship your goods. Please tell us in advance of any key dates.

Apply for open individual export licences (OIELs) in sufficient time before your existing or extant OIEL expires (3 to 6 months). Make sure the reference number to your existing OIEL is in the replacement or renewal application.

Our service level agreements on licence processing timescales are published online. On SPIRE you can see the processing status of your application on the top right-hand side of the screen, once you are logged in. Use your CO as your main point of contact for specifics on your application. They will be best placed to answer your questions.

Contacting Licensing Unit (LU) staff

You can find the contact details for ECJU LU staff on the front page of SPIRE and before you log in.

When contacting ECJU please add your company name - licence application reference number and the destination country in the email title. For example, British Co Ltd – SIE2024/000000 – Timbuktu.

If you are leaving us a voicemail message, include your licence application reference number as part of your message. We deal with a very large number of applications, and this helps us to find your application and to respond to you more quickly.

If your Case Officer is away, your first point of contact is the person named in their out of office message, the ECJU Helpline is not your next point of contact for queries on your licence application. The ECJU helpline can assist you with managing your  account as well as general queries.

ECJU staff can only speak to an applicant company about an application. It is your responsibility to manage your customer’s expectations. Do not encourage them to contact us.

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