The Export of Goods (Control) Order 1989

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1989 and shall come into force on 14th February 1990.

(2) In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires—

“aircraft” does not include helicopters;

“Commissioners” means the Commissioners of Customs and Excise;

“country” includes territory;

“document” includes any record or device by means of which information is recorded or stored;

“goods”, unless otherwise specified, means both used and unused goods;

“hovercraft” has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Hovercraft Act 1968(1);

“importation” and “exportation” in relation to a vessel, submersible vehicle, aircraft or helicopter includes the taking into or out of the United Kingdom of the vessel, submersible vehicle, aircraft or helicopter notwithstanding that the vessel, submersible vehicle, aircraft or helicopter is conveying goods or passengers, and whether or not it is moving under its own power; and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;

“Member State” means a Member State of the European Communities;

“microprogramme” means a sequence of elementary instructions, maintained in a special storage, the execution of which is initiated by the introduction of its reference instruction into an instruction register;

“normal commercial journey” means a journey providing transport services in the ordinary course of business;

“ODMA software” means operating software, diagnostic software, maintenance software or application software; and in each case includes only the minimum software necessary to enable the equipment to perform the function for which it was designed;

“programme” means a sequence of instructions to carry out a process in, or convertible into, a form executable by an electronic computer and includes a microprogramme;

“scheduled goods” means goods of a description specified in Schedule 1 hereto;

“scheduled journey” means one of a series of journeys which are undertaken between the same two places and which together amount to a systematic service operated in such a manner that the benefits thereof are available to members of the public from time to time seeking to take advantage of it;

“ship” includes the hull or part of the hull of a ship;

“software” means one or more programmes fixed in any tangible medium of expression;

“surface effect vehicle” means any air cushion vehicle (whether side wall or skirted) and any vehicle using the wing-in-ground effect for positive lift;

“SWATH vessel” means any small waterplane area twin-hull vessel;

“technological document” means any document containing information relating to the design, production, testing or use of goods or to technologies or processes, excluding:

(i)

document which is generally available to the public;

(ii)

application for the grant of a patent (or any other form of protection for an invention) or for the registration of a design, or a semi conductor topography, in each case under the law of the United Kingdom or of any other country or under any treaty or international convention;

(iii)

document necessary to enable any such application to be filed, made or pursued;

“vessel” includes any ship, surface effect vehicle, SWATH vessel and hydrofoil, and the hull or part of the hull of a vessel;

a prohibition on exportation means a prohibition on exportation from the United Kingdom and shall include a prohibition on shipment as ships' stores;

any reference to scheduled goods or any other item being indicated by a letter shall be taken as a reference to such goods or items being so indicated in Schedule 1 hereto;

numerical references in Schedule 1 hereto to British Standards are references to the standards so numbered published by the British Standards Institution in the year indicated after such references with such amendments (if any) thereto as may have been made before the making of this Order;

references in Schedule 1 hereto to percentages of the contents of any goods are references to percentages by weight;

any description of goods specified in Group A of Part I of Schedule 1 hereto in relation to a Combined Nomenclature heading or sub-heading, other than one covering a whole heading, shall be taken to comprise all goods which would be classified under an entry in the same terms constituting a subheading in the relevant heading in the Combined Nomenclature of the European Economic Community(2).

Prohibitions and restrictions on exportation

2.  Subject to the provisions of this Order—

(i) where scheduled goods are indicated by the letter “C”, those goods are prohibited to be exported to any destination, and (whether or not express provision is made in relation to technology) technological documents the information in which relates to those goods are prohibited to be exported to any destination in a country listed in Schedule 2 to this Order;

(ii) where technology is specified in Schedule 1 to this Order and indicated by the “D”, technological documents the information in which includes that technology are prohibited to be exported to any destination in a country listed in Schedule 2 to this Order;

(iii) scheduled goods indicated by the letter “E” are prohibited to be exported to any destination except a destination in another Member State;

(iv) where scheduled goods are indicated by the letter “I”, those goods and (whether or not express provision is made in relation to technology) technological documents the information in which relates to those goods are prohibited to be exported to any destination in Iran or Iraq;

(v) where scheduled goods are indicated by the letter “L”, those goods and (whether or not express provision is made in relation to technology) technological documents the information in which relates to those goods are prohibited to be exported to any destination in Libya;

(vi) where scheduled goods are indicated by the letter “S”, those goods and (whether or not express provision is made in relation to technology) technological documents the information in which relates to those goods are prohibited to be exported to any destination after delivery or for the purpose of delivery, directly or indirectly, to a person in any country listed in Schedule 2 to this Order;

(vii) scheduled goods indicated by the letter “T” are prohibited to be exported to any destination except that when in relation to such goods the provisions of Commission Regulation (EEC) 1062/87, as amended(3), relating to the use of Community transit documents requiring anything to be done at or before the time of exportation have been complied with, the goods may be exported to a destination in another Member State;

(viii) scheduled goods indicated by the letter “W” are prohibited to be exported to any destination;

(ix) scheduled goods indicated by the letter “X” are prohibited to be exported to any destination in India or Pakistan;

(x) where scheduled goods are indicated by the letter “Y”, those goods and (whether or not express provision is made in relation to technology) technological documents the information in which relates to those goods are prohibited to be exported to any destination in Syria;

(xi) where scheduled goods are indicated by the letter “Z”, those goods and (whether or not express provision is made in relation to technology) technological documents the information in which relates to those goods are prohibited to be exported to any destination in South Africa or Namibia;

(xii) specialised components of any goods of a description specified in Group 1 of Part II of Schedule 1 hereto, whether or not such components are specified in the description, are prohibited to be exported to any destination in South Africa or Namibia;

(xiii) goods of a description specified in Group C of Part I of Schedule 1 hereto are prohibited to be exported to any destination in the United States of America or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Community steel products

3.  The prohibition in article 2(xiii) of this Order shall not apply to any exportation to any destination in the United States of America or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in accordance with a European Community export licence issued by the competent authority of a Member State in conformity with the provisions of Commission Decision 2873/82/ECSC(4) or Commission Regulation (EEC) No.2874/82(5) or Commission Regulation (EEC) No.61/85(6).

Exceptions

4.  Nothing in article 2 of this Order shall be taken to prohibit the exportation of—

(a) Licensed exports and permitted ships' stores

any goods under the authority of a licence granted by the Secretary of State, or the shipment of any goods as ships' stores with the permission of the proper officer of Customs and Excise at the port of departure for use on board the ship, provided that all conditions attaching to the said licence or the said permission are complied with;

(b) Channel Islands

any goods other than goods of a description specified in Group B of Part I of Schedule 1 hereto or in Group 1 of Part II of the said Schedule, to any destination in the Channel Islands;

(c) Samples

trade samples of any goods of a description specified in Group A of Part 1 of Schedule 1 hereto, if the samples have no saleable value;

(d) Aircraft and helicopters

(i) any aircraft or helicopter which is being exported after temporary importation into the United Kingdom, provided that there has been no change of ownership or registration since such importation;

(ii) any aircraft or helicopter engaged on a scheduled journey;

(e) Cocoa

cocoa beans, whole or broken, raw or roasted, and the following cocoa products namely cocoa paste (in bulk or block) whether or not defatted, cocoa butter (fat and oil) and cocoa powder not containing added sugar or other sweetening matter to any destination if there is produced to the proper officer of Customs and Excise at the place of export the appropriate certificate prescribed for this purpose by the economic and control rules of the International Cocoa Agreement 1986(7) which were adopted by the International Cocoa Council on 23rd January 1987

(f) Firearms and ammunition

(i) firearms (not being goods of a description specified in Group B of Part 1 of Schedule 1 hereto) authorized to be held by a valid firearm certificate or shotgun certificate granted or having effect as if granted under the Firearms Act 1968(8) or by a valid firearm certificate granted under the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 1981(9) or granted in the Isle of Man under the Firearms Act 1947 (an Act of Tynwald)(10); and

(ii) related ammunition for use therewith;

to any destination other than a destination in South Africa or in Namibia, provided that the firearms and ammunition form part of the personal effects of the holder of the certificate and the certificate is produced by the holder, or his duly authorized agent, with the firearms and ammunition, to the proper officer of Customs & Excise at the place of export;

(g) Live animals

(i) any live animal if the place of export is Great Britain;

(ii) live bovine animals, live swine and live sheep from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland;

(h) Vessels

(i) any vessel registered or constructed outside the United Kingdom which is being exported after temporary importation into the United Kingdom;

(ii) any vessel which is departing from the United Kingdom on trials;

(iii) any vessel proceeding on a normal commercial journey.

Customs powers to demand evidence of destination which goods reach

5.  Any exporter or any shipper of goods which have been exported from the United Kingdom shall, if so required by the Commissioners, furnish within such time as they may allow proof to their satisfaction that the goods have reached either—

(i) a destination to which they were authorised to be exported by a licence granted for the purposes of this Order, or

(ii) a destination to which their exportation was not prohibited by this Order;

and, if he fails to do so, he shall be liable to a customs penalty not exceeding two thousand pounds unless he proves that he did not consent to or connive at the goods reaching any destination other than such a destination as aforesaid.

Offences in connection with applications for licences, conditions attaching to licences, etc.

6.—(1) If for the purpose of obtaining any licence or permission under this Order for the exportation or shipment as ships' stores of any goods or of obtaining from the Secretary of State a European Community export licence as referred to in article 3 of this Order any person makes any statement or furnishes any document or information which to his knowledge is false in a material particular or recklessly makes any statement or furnishes any document or information which is false in a material particular he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two thousand pounds and on conviction on indictment to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years, or to both; and any licence or permission or European Community export licence which may have been granted for the exportation or shipment as ships' stores of any goods, in connection with the application for which the false statement was made or the false document or information furnished, shall be void as from the time it was granted.

(2) Any person who has exported goods from the United Kingdom under the authority of a licence granted by the Secretary of State in pursuance of Article 4(a) and who fails to comply with any condition attaching to that licence shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two thousand pounds and on conviction on indictment to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years, or to both:

• Provided that no person shall be guilty of an offence under this paragraph where he proves that the condition with which he failed to comply was modified, otherwise than with his consent, by the Secretary of State and that the goods in relation to which he failed to comply with the condition had, at the time when the condition was modified, been exported from the United Kingdom.

Declaration as to goods: powers of search

7.—(1) Any person who, on any occasion, is about to leave the United Kingdom shall, if on that occasion he is required to do so by an officer of Customs and Excise—

(a) declare whether or not he has with him any goods the export of which from the United Kingdom is subject to any prohibition or restriction under this Order; and

(b) produce any such goods as aforesaid which he has with him;

and such officer, and any person acting under his directions, may search that person for the purpose of ascertaining whether he has with him any such goods as aforesaid:

• Provided that no person shall be searched in pursuance of this paragraph except by a person of the same sex.

(2) Any person who without reasonable excuse refuses to make a declaration, fails to produce any goods or refuses to allow himself to be searched in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this article shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a customs penalty not exceeding one thousand pounds.

(3) Any person who under the provisions of this article makes a declaration which to his knowledge is false in a material particular or recklessly makes any declaration which is false in a material particular shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a customs penalty not exceeding two thousand pounds and on conviction on indictment to a customs penalty of any amount or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.

Modification and revocation of licences, etc

8.—(1) A licence granted by the Secretary of State in pursuance of article 4(a) or having effect as if so granted may be modified or revoked by him at any time.

(2) Any permission granted by the proper officer of Customs and Excise for the shipment of any goods as ships' stores may be modified or revoked by such officer at any time.

Revocations

9.  The Orders specified in Schedule 3 hereto are hereby revoked.

Trefgarne

Minister for Trade,

Department of Trade and Industry

15th December 1989.