STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS.

S.I. No. 317 of 2000.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CONTROL OF EXPORTS OF DUAL-USE ITEMS) REGULATIONS, 2000.

S.I. No. 317 of 2000.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CONTROL OF EXPORTS OF DUAL-USE ITEMS) REGULATIONS, 2000.

I, MARY HARNEY, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 ( No. 27 of 1972 ), and for the purpose of giving full effect to Council Regulation (EC) No. 1334/2000 of 22 June, 2000¹ , hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Control of Exports of Dual-Use Items) Regulations, 2000.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on 5 October 2000.

2. (1) In these Regulations --

“authorised officer” means a person appointed under Regulation 7 of these Reglations;

“Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1334/2000 of 22 June, 2000 setting up a Community regime for the control of exports of dual-use items and technology;

“dual-use items” means items referred to in the Council Regulation;

“exporter” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2(c) of the Council Regulation;

“general authorisation” means an authorisation granted by the Minister under Regulation 4;

“Minister” means the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

(2) In these Regulations--

(a) a reference to a Regulation is to a Regulation of these Regulations, and

(b) a reference to a paragraph or subparagraph is to a paragraph or subparagraph of the Regulation in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other Regulation is intended.

3. The Minister shall be the competent authority in the state for the purposes of the Council Regulation.

4. (1) The Minister may grant a general authorisation of the type referred to in Article 6(2) of the Council Regulation.

(2) A general authorisation granted under paragraph (1) may be granted subject to such one or more further conditions as the Minister thinks appropriate and specifies in the authorisation.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (2), a general authorisation may be granted subject to a condition restricting the states to which an exportation of the dual-use items concerned may take place to such states as are specified in the condition.

(4) A general authorisation granted under paragraph (1) may be used by an exporter if:

(a) the exporter either is not aware, or has not been informed by the Minister, that the dual-use items which it is intended to be exported are, or may be, whether in their entirety or in part, intended for any of the uses referred to in paragraph 1, 2 or 3 of Article 4 of the Council Regulation.

(b) the exporter provides the Minister with-

(i) the name of the exporter,

(ii) where appropriate, the address where the exporter will keep and make available for inspection by the Minister, the registers or records referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) of Article 16 of the Council Regulation, for a period of 3 years from the end of the year in which the export took place.

(iii) where appropriate, the address where the exporter will keep and make available for inspection by the Minister, the documents and records referred to in paragraph (5) of Article 21 of the Council Regulation, for a period of 3 years from the end of the year in which the export took place,

(c) the information referred to in subparagraph (b) is provided--

(i) where the exporter exports dual-use items of the type concerned on one occasion, not later than 30 days after the export of the dual-use items, or

(ii) where the exporter exports dual-use items of the type concerned on more than one occasion, before such an export (being the first occasion of such an export) takes place, or within 30 days after such an export (being the occasion as aforesaid of such an export) has taken place.

and

(d) the exporter notifies the Minister immediately if there is any change in the information furnished pursuant to subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (b).

(5) A person exporting dual-use items which are the subject of a general authorisation shall comply with--

(a) the conditions to which such authorisation is subject by virtue of paragraphs (2), (3) or 4 of this Regulation.

(b) the provisions of the Council Regulation and

(c) the provisions of these Regulations.

(6) Where the Minister grants a general authorisation the Minister shall cause the general authorisation to be published in the Iris Oifigiúil.

(7) (a) The Minister may revoke a general authorisation granted under paragraph (1).

(b) Where the Minister revokes a general authorisation he or she shall cause a notice of such revocation to be published in the Iris Oifigiúil.

5. A Community general export authorisation granted under Article 6 (1) of the Council Regulation may be used if the exporter complies with the conditions referred to in subparagraphs (b) and (c) of paragraph (4) of Regulation 4.

6. (1) The Minister may grant a global authorisation of the type referred to in Article 6(5) of the Council Regulation.

(2) A global authorisation granted under paragraph (1) of this Regulation may be granted subject to such one or more conditions as the Minister thinks appropriate and specifies in the authorisation.

7. (1) The Minister may appoint one or more persons to be an authorised officer or authorised officers for the purposes of this Regulation.

(2) A person appointed under this Regulation shall, on his or her appointment, be furnished with a certificate of his or her appointment and when exercising a power conferred by this Regulation shall, if requested by any person thereby affected, produce such certificate to that person for inspection.

(3) An authorised officer may for the purposes of the Council Regulation or these Regulations--

(a) enter at all reasonable times any land or premises on which a business of exportation of dual-use items (whether or not in addition to other goods) is carried on or the exportation of such dual-use items is organised or arranged,

(b) require any person in occupation of the said land or premises or who carries on a business aforesaid or does anything else aforesaid on the said land or premises to produce to him or her such documents, records or materials as are in that person's possession or control relating to the exportation of dual-use items and to give to him or her such information as he or she may reasonably require in regard to such documents, records or materials,

(c) either on the said land or premises or elsewhere, inspect and copy or extract information from documents, records or materials produced to him or her under subparagraph (b) of this paragraph or which he or she finds on the said land or premises.

8. (1) An exporter who--

(a) exports dual-use items otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of the Council Regulation,

(b) fails to comply with Article 4(4) of the Council Regulation,

(c) otherwise contravenes a provision of the Council Regulation,

(d) for the purpose of obtaining for himself or herself or for any other person an export authorisation under the Council Regulation, makes any statement or representation which is, to his or her knowledge, false or misleading in any material respect,

(e) exports dual-use items in respect of which a general authorisation is in force otherwise than in compliance with the conditions contained in such authorisation, or

(f) exports dual-use items in respect of which a general authorisation is in force otherwise than in compliance with paragraph (4) of Regulation 4, shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) A person who--

(a) obstructs or impedes an authorised officer in the exercise of his or her powers under regulation 7,

(b) without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails to comply with a requirement made of him or her under paragraph (3) (b) of the said Regulation 7 by an authorised officer, or

(c) makes a statement or furnishes information to an authorised officer, pursuant to a requirement made of him or her under the said paragraph (3)(b) by such an officer, which is, to his or her knowledge, false or misleading in a material respect,

shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) A person guilty of an offence under this Regulation shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both.

(4) Where an offence under this Regulation is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any person, being a director, manager, secretary to other officer of such body, or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or she were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

(5) An offence under this Regulation may be prosecuted by the Minister.

9. The European Communities (Control of Exports of Dual-Use Goods) Regulations, 1996 ( S.I. No. 362 of 1996 ) and European Communities (Control of Exports of Dual-Use Goods) (Amendment) Regulations, 2000 ( S.I. No. 98 of 2000 ) are revoked.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

The effect of this Order is to provide effective control of exports of dual-use items (items which may be used for both civil and military purposes) as provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No. 1334/2000 of 22 June, 2000, and to provide for penalties of the prohibition.

¹ OJ No. L159 30.06.2000