Case administration

Among the circumstances that the Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority takes into consideration when processing an application are for example:

• Denmarks commitments under agreements on controls on sensitive products and in relation to sanctions adopted by the EU and the UN.
• Danish security and foreign policy views, including the wish to counter terrorism and contribute to maintaining regional peace, security and stability.
• The internal situation and compliance with human rights in the recipient country.
• Danish enterprises must not be restricted unnecessarily in their efforts to win export orders if, for example, enterprises in other EU Member States may legally export products which Danish enterprises are not able to obtain export authorisations for in Denmark.

The export control rules, including the catch-all provisions apply not only in the EU. Similar rules have also been introduced in a number of other countries. The rules are, however, not very precise so the administration of them is left to the individual countries.

Consulting other authorities and other countries
In complicated matters, the Authority will have to obtain further information on the foreign policy situation, the end-user and the product, especially from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Danish Defence Intelligence Service, the Danish Security Intelligence Service, the Ministry of Defence, including the Defence Ministry's technical experts as well as authorities in other countries.

Few denials are issued
In the vast majority of cases, exports may be conducted without any obstacles, either because the product is not subject to export controls, or because an authorisation is a matter of routine.

The risk of an export prohibition is normally only present in connection with exports of particularly critical products intended for particular end-users and regions where there is a risk that the application poses a danger to international peace and security as well as human rights.

In general, however, exporters should always make sales contracts subject to reservation for an export prohibition in order to avoid any claim for damages.