Do I need an export licence?

Research or teaching activity may be regarded as “exporting items” if it involves:

• Tangible or intangible (e.g. physical, electronic or verbal)  transfers or disclosures of goods, software, or technology (information) to any recipient (a natural or legal person) or destination located outside of the UK;

• The transfer or disclosure of items within the UK for use in a Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) programme outside the UK (including teaching taking place in the UK);

• The transit of controlled items through the UK to other destinations;

• Trafficking and brokering, such as arranging the transfer of certain items, particularly military goods, between two other countries (this is less likely to affect universities).

Examples of exports

For any transfer or disclosure to consitute an export it is only required that the recipient or destination is located outside the UK – the precise location and the recipient's nationality and affiliation with Imperial or other organisations are not relevant. The following examples all constitute exports (i.e. transfers or disclosures from within the UK) and require a licence if they involve controlled items:

• Transporting a prototype device, component, documentation or samples of material to a research partner outside the UK, including via mail, third party courier or on your own person;

• Taking a laptop or other device containing electronic files to an overseas conference;

• Accessing electronic files stored on a file sharing system while outside the UK;

• Teaching a remotely accessible class where any of the participants are located outside the UK;

• Discussing certain information or technologies with students or another colleague (including both honorary staff and substantive Imperial employees) virtually or by telephone while they are not in the UK.

Key questions to ask yourself include:

• What am I physically sending out of the country?
• What am I physically taking with me during overseas travel?
• What am I accessing remotely when outside the UK, irrespective of the file server location?
• What am I communicating or disclosing to anyone outside the UK (including in electronic messages, telephone or video conversations, and other online or digital interactions)?

Next step

If you are exporting items, you must check whether these items are controlled. Please proceed to the next step below.

Items requiring a licence to be exported are found on the UK Strategic Export Control Lists. This includes:

• Any items specifically designed or modified for military applications and purposes; and

• Dual-use items which have civil but also potential military applications, such as nuclear technology, certain chemicals, and engineering products.

How can I identify if my research or teaching involves controlled items?

• Always start by searching for matches to your items on the UK Strategic Export Control Lists (UK SECL or 'consolidated list'), preferably using the ECO Goods Checker. The Goods Checker is a fast and straightforward tool for searching the UK SECL for potential control rating matches relevant to your activities. Choosing the optimal search terms is essential: it is usually best to use a variety of short and simple search terms of 1-2 words rather than longer phrases, to ensure that relevant entries are not missed. Such search terms may return a variety of control rating entries, some of which may not appear directly relevant to your activities. However, it is usually best to start from this point and eliminate irrelevant entries rather than to miss adjacent or connected results through a more specific search. Please also see accordion item 1 on the 'How do I apply for licence?' page for further guidance on searching the UK SECL. We also strongly recommend reading the ECO Goods Checker Example Searches.

• If in doubt, you should consult the guidance materials on Imperial's Export Controls website. You can also contact the Research Office for assistance and advice in the first instance. The ECJU also offers the means to help you find your items on the UK SECL and can be contacted by emailing eco.help@trade.gsi.gov.uk or telephoning 020 7215 4594.

Subjects most affected by Export Controls

Natural sciences and engineering disciplines are most affected by export controls, but not exclusively so. The UK Government lists high risk areas of academic research as including:

• aeronautical and space technology
• applied chemistry, biochemistry and chemical engineering
• applied physics
• biotechnology
• electrical and mechanical engineering
• instrumentation and sensors
• materials technology
• nuclear technologies
• production and process technology
• telecommunications and information technology

By extension, if any of the items that you intend to export fall within one or more of the following red flag areas, you will likely need to apply for a licence:

• Viruses and pathogens or related research
• Vaccine technology, which might be used to inoculate troops using chemical or biological weapons
• Civil technology which could be used or adapted as a component for military purposes
• Technology which could support activities in facilities which house weapons technology or delivery programmes, e.g., hardened underground facilities, low-energy signature or hermetically sealed buildings; vacuum systems; autonomous buildings
• Ancillaries and support equipment at some facilities, including those which house uranium enrichment centrifuges or nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities, can be of concern even if the technology is itself ubiquitous
• Toxic chemicals that can cause serious injury or death
• Fissile materials, radioactive materials or equipment for their detection or handling
• Materials characterisation equipment
• Materials production techniques
• Carbon fibre composites with specific tensile / compressive / modulus properties
• High-nickel alloys (including high-grade aluminium alloys) with specific tensile / compressive / modulus properties
• Uranium enrichment for non-civil nuclear energy
• High-grade radioactive material
• Unmanned equipment (even if used only for atmospheric research)
• Optoelectronics (lasers)
• Ocean bottom survey equipment
• Hydrophones or sonar equipment
• Ground penetrating radar
• Stealth technology
• Electromagnetic absorption
• Missiles, rockets, and related technology (high-performance materials, guidance systems, propellants etc.)
• Autonomous vehicles, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and associated technology
• Space qualified goods, software, or technology (>100km over Earth surface operation)

Key questions to ask yourself include:

• Have I checked my activities against the UK Strategic Export Control Lists (UK SECL) to confirm or rule out matches to any items to be used or produced?
• Is the subject matter of my activities inherently sensitive or hazardous?
• Have I assessed the potential risks concerning the standing, actions and intentions of involved parties?
• Are any of the parties or countries involved in my activities subject to embargoes or financial, trade or other sanctions and controls?
• Will I be using any specialised goods, software or technology of foreign origin?

US Export Controls

If you are collaborating with any party located or operating in the United States, or if you are planning to use certain goods, software or technology that originate from or have been transferred to you from the US, your project may be subject to US Export Controls. Please see Imperial's US Export Controls web page and the Export Control FAQs page for more information.

Next step

If you are exporting (transferring or disclosing) any controlled items, you must apply for an export licence. Even if the items you are exporting are not subject to an export control rating (i.e. designated on the UK SECL or under other sanctions or trade control legislation), you might still need a licence depending on who the recipient is, where they are located and the intended end-use of the items. Please proceed to the next step below.

The UK Export Control regime allows the authorities to designate 'unrated' items (those not designated in the UK Strategic Export Control Lists (UK SECL) or other legislation) as controlled where there are concerns about the potential end-uses to which those items may be put, or regarding the intent and standing of the proposed end-users (recipients or other beneficiaries) and the destination country those end-users reside in. The authorities may invoke end-use controls, depending on the circumstances. These include whether trade controls including arms embargoes apply to a given destination country, or where there are concerns regarding potential military or WMD end-uses of items in the context of the recipient end-users. Please see the End-use concerns web page for further information on end-use controls.

If you can answer “yes” to any of the following questions, it is strongly recommended that you seek further advice, as it may be necessary to apply for an export licence even if the relevant items are not designated on the UK Strategic Export Control Lists (UK SECL):

• Do you know, or have any reason to suspect, that the exported item may support the design, development, production, stockpiling or use of a weapon, especially nuclear, chemical and biological weapons?
• Does the end-user country potentially have a WMD or missile programme?
• Could the goods, software or technology be used in any part of WMD development or delivery infrastructure?
• Is the end user, importer, or any third parties to the transaction known to be of concern?
• Are you uncertain about the precise identity or circumstances of the end user?
• Are there WMD research and development programmes at universities in the state or region concerned?
• Are there civil nuclear reactors outside of IAEA controls in the country that the items are being exported to?
• Are you collaborating with a civil space programme that may also be involved in ballistic missile development?

Suspicious behaviour of participants

It remains important to consider whether any person or organisation with whom you are working is acting in a manner that could be regarded as suspicious, both overall and from a security standpoint. Please consider the conduct of anyone who will be in receipt of or have access to the relevant goods, software, or technology - including students, staff, research collaborators, subcontractors, and suppliers. If your suspicions are raised by any of the following, please seek advice from the Research Office:

• Is the recipient reluctant to offer information about the end-use of the items?

• Has the recipient asked that the goods be transferred to a forwarding address in the UK?

• Has the recipient made unusual requests regarding shipping, packaging or labelling?

• Is the recipient new to you and is your knowledge about them incomplete?

• Is the recipient located in an area under strict security control or in an area to which access is severely restricted, or which is unusual in view of the type of items being provided or installed?

• Are there unusual requirements for excessive confidentiality about final destinations, customers, or specifications of items?

• Is the recipient or end user a military or government research body?

• Is the project requested unusual in any way, e.g. the quantity or performance capabilities of the goods significantly exceed, without satisfactory explanation, the amount or performance normally required for the stated end use?

Other key questions to ask yourself include:

• How well do we know the parties involved, their purposes and connections, particularly any recipients of items?
• What is their standing at law and in the eyes of the authorities?
• Do they present any material security or other concerns?
• Are they aligned to our objectives and values?

Sanctions and embargoes

Take particular care when considering both formal and informal opportunities involving parties and locations that are subject to UN or UK sanctions and arms embargoes. For a list of countries that are currently subject to such measures, see the Government’s website on trade sanctions, arms embargoes, and other trade restrictions. We also recommend reviewing the UK Sanctions List and OFSI's Consolidated List of financial sanctions to ensure that none of the organisations or individuals involved in your activities are subject to UK or international sanctions.

Sanctions measures include arms embargoes and other trade controls. Additional restrictions can apply when dealing with countries that are subject to sanctions, e.g., restrictions on the actions of connected individuals and entities, including their ability to travel or to use financial assets, systems and services. They can also include additional restrictions on exports or related trade activities. This means that certain items are controlled, even if they are not designated on the UK Strategic Export Control Lists (UK SECL).

Please note that there are specific restrictions on exports to China and UK sanctions against Russia.

Imperial Relationships Policy (RP)

If your proposed activities involve parties domiciled, operating or registered within any of the countries listed in Appendix B of the Imperial Relationships Policy (PDF), you must obtain authorisation from the relevant Decision Making Body, which may include making the required submissions to the Relationship Review Committee (RRC) Panel before commencing those activities.