Warning signals

Exporters should be particularly cautious in connection with a number of circumstances indicating that there may be a need for an export authorisation. It may be in relation to certain:

• Suspicious customers and negotiating situations.
• Critical products and technologies.
• Critical export markets.

By way of assistance, please find below some examples of critical export orders which require an export authorisation.

Suspicious customers and negotiating situations
Exporters should be aware of a number of circumstances indicating that the export order in question may be of a critical nature, thus requiring an export authorisation. It may be circumstances in relation to the customer or the end-user, for example if it is a matter of relations to the defence industry.

In relation to the negotiating situation, there may also be circumstances that seem unusual for one reason or another. In the following, a number of circumstances are mentioned which ought to make exporters act with particular caution and perhaps ask for advice and guidance in order to have clarified whether an export authorisation is required:

• Is it a military customer (in a non-Western country), or has the customer connection with the defence industry?
• Is the customer relatively unknown, or is there some uncertainty as to who the customer is (credit information is not available from normal business sources that do not know the customer either)?
• Is the customer unable to issue an end-user certificate, or is the customer not inclined to provide information on the end-user or the end-use?
• Does the customer not wish to make use of the general installation and maintenance service, even if this would be normal, or does the customer refuse to provide information on where the equipment is to be installed and on its use?
• Does the customer wish to make use of unusual payment terms, for example to pay in foreign currency, or does the customer offer a particularly favourable contract?
• Is the size of the order, packaging requirement or the route/place of delivery unusual?
• Is there a discrepancy between the performance or design of the product ordered and the customers trade or the stated end-use?
• Does the customer use a PO box address exclusively, or has he facilities which the equipment ordered does not match?
• Does the customer order spare parts which he apparently has no legal use for (for example if there seems to be no prior authorised supply of the system that the customer wants spare parts for)?
• Are there grounds for assuming that the customer constitutes a risk to the enterprise where you are employed?

Critical products and technologies
Exporters should be particularly cautious in connection with exports of products in the following areas:

• Electronic equipment
• Products with particularly specific technical properties
• Chemicals
• Chemical facilities including processing and production equipment
• Laboratory equipment and analysis equipment
• Vaccines, toxins, micro-organisms and biological agents, including growth media, for example peptone
• Equipment for the dissemination of or protection against these substances
• Machine tools
• Software and technology for the production, development or application of the above products.

Even if a product is not on the control list, it may nevertheless be subject to export controls.

Experience has shown that also less critical products that are not on the control list may be used for the development or production of WMD. As an exporter it is consequently important to have clarified where, for what and by whom the product is to be used. Therefore, the catch-all clause was introduced in 1995 as an additional security measure with focus on the specific end-use of the product. The legal basis for the catch-all provisions is Article 4 of the EU regulation.

If there is a suspicion that a product is subject to the catch-all provisions, it is always necessary to apply for an export authorisation.

Critical export markets
Particular attention should be paid to markets where the risk of development and build-up of WMD is generally known, for example in certain countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. Furthermore, certain customers, especially in these countries, will be well-known in international export control circles as particularly critical end-users.

Exporters should be aware that a number of countries are subject to sanctions and/or embargoes (i.e. trade restrictions). The objective of these sanctions is to prevent these countries from establishing an arms industry.

Examples of critical export orders
As examples of specific combinations of critical products and markets where an export authorisation is typically required, the following may be mentioned:

• Monitors
• Analysers
• Hydrophones
• Encryption products
• Equipment and spare parts for heating plants
• Equipment for ultra sound scanning
• Laboratory articles
• Facilities for treating gasses
• Equipment for waste water treatment plants

intended for, among others, the following countries:

Iran, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, China, Malaysia, North Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Ukraine, Libya, Syria.

Webcontent manager: Dorthe Gjedsted Robdrup