EU General Export Authorisations
(UGEAs) are known as ‘Union licences’ as they are established by Council Regulation (EU) No. 2021/821. They are valid in all the EU
Member States and may be used by any exporter established in the EU, subject to
the same exporter meeting specified terms and conditions.
EU001 covers exports to Australia,
Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, including Lichtenstein, and
the United States. Through an amending Regulation, the United Kingdom was added
to the list of destinations with effect from 1st January 2021.
UGEAs are legal documents
authorising exports. Use of the UGEA authorisation is subject to the conditions
of use set in the regulation. It is the responsibility of each exporter to
check the precise scope of the authorisation as set out in the regulation,
assess whether the relevant items are covered and ensure that they meet all the
licensing terms and conditions.
• Exporters are not required to apply
to use the UGEAs, but they need to register as a user prior to the first use of this authorisation. Registration is through submission of a notification
as per specified form.
In this notification the exporter provides his details and that of the
location where records may be inspected. Moreover, the exporter undertakes to
forward to the Commerce Department, detailed export data on a quarterly basis
(in April, July, October and January for the preceding three months). Both the
registration of first use and the quarterly data must be forwarded to
controlledgoods@gov.mt.
• When exporting goods under authority
of a UGEA, it is a requirement to specify the EU reference number X002 in Box
44 and the licence code i.e. EU001 in the Customs Single Administrative
Document.
It is important to note that the
Department may prohibit exporters from using this authorisation if there is
reasonable suspicion about their ability to comply with the provisions of the
authorisation or with the provision of the export control legislation (article 12.7 of Regulation (EU) 2021/821). Consistent with the aim of a common EU approach
to managing the UGEA system, information about prohibited exporters is
exchanged among all Member States.
The authorisation may not be used if
the exporter is aware, or if he has been informed by the Department, that the
items in question are or may be intended, in their entirety or in part:
• for use in connection with the
development, production, handling, operation, maintenance, storage, detection,
identification or dissemination of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons or
other nuclear explosive devices or the development, production, maintenance or
storage of missiles capable of delivering such weapons,
• for a military end use as defined
in point (b) of Article 4(1) of the Regulation in a country subject to arms embargo; or
• for use as parts or components of military items listed in the EU or the national military list that have been exported from the territory of the Member State concerned without authorisation or in breach of an authorisation.
Similarly, the authorisation may not
be used if the relevant items are exported to a customs free zone or free
warehouse which is in a destination covered by this authorisation; or if the
final destination is outside the countries covered by the authorisation.
The above information is being
provided to guide exporters. The prevailing legal obligations are those that
are found at law.
Template for notification of first
use of UGEA EU001
Regulation (EU) 2020/2171 amending Annex IIa to Council
Regulation (EC) No 428/2009 granting an Union General Export Authorisation to
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Last
update – 25-01-2023