Control of Exports Act 2023

Interpretation

2. (1) In this Act—

“Act of 2008” means the Control of Exports Act 2008 ;

“adjudicator” has the meaning given to it by section 39 ; “appellant” has the meaning given to it by section 43 ;

“applicant” means a person who applies under Part 4 for an authorisation; “authorisation” means an authorisation to undertake a relevant activity;

“basic scientific research” has the same meaning as it has in the General Technology Note or the Nuclear Technology Note set out in Annex I;

“broker”—

(a) in so far as it relates to a dual-use item, has the meaning given to it by section 9 , and

(b) in so far as it relates to a military item, has the meaning given to it by section 22 ; “brokering services”—

(a) in so far as it relates to a dual-use item, has the meaning given to it by section 9 , and

(b) in so far as it relates to a military item, has the meaning given to it by section 22 ;

“company” means a company formed and registered under the Companies Act 2014 or an existing company within the meaning of that Act;

“compliance notice” means a compliance notice given under section 61 ;

“Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP” means Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP of 8 December 20082 defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment amended by Council Decision (CFSP) 2019/15603 ;

“cyber-surveillance item” has the same meaning as it has in Article 2;

“Defence Forces” has the same meaning as it has in section 2 of the Defence Act 1954 ;

“dual-use item” has the same meaning as it has in Article 2;

“Dual-use Regulation” means Council Regulation (EU) No. 2021/821 of 20 May 20214 setting up a Union regime for the control of exports, brokering, technical assistance, transit and transfer of dual-use items (recast) amended by Regulation (EU) 2016/2339 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 20165 , Regulation (EU) 2019/474 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 20196 , Regulation (EU) 2019/632 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 20197 , Regulation (EU) 2022/2399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 November 20228 , Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1 of 20 October 20219 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/699 of 2 May 202210 ;

“export”—

(a) in so far as it relates to a dual-use item, has the meaning given to it by section 9 , and

(b) in so far as it relates to a military item, has the meaning given to it by section 22 ; “exporter”—

(a) in so far as it relates to a dual-use item, has the meaning given to it by section 9 , and

(b) in so far as it relates to a military item, has the meaning given to it by section 22 ;

“General Data Protection Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 201611 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation);

“in the public domain” has the same meaning as it has in the General Technology Note or the Nuclear Technology Note set out in Annex I;

“International United Nations Force” has the same meaning as it has in the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006 ;

“military end-use” means—

(a) incorporation into a military item or an item on the national military list of another Member State,

(b) use of production, test or analytical equipment and components therefor, for the development, production or maintenance of a military item or an item on the national military list of another Member State, or

(c) use of any unfinished products in a plant for the production of a military item or an item on the national military list of another Member State;

“military item” has the meaning given to it by section 23 (2); “Minister” means the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment;

“multilateral non-proliferation regimes” means the Australia Group, Missile Technology Control Regime, Nuclear Suppliers Group, Wassenaar Arrangement, Zangger Committee and the Chemical Weapons Convention;

“national military export control list” means the list for the time being prescribed under section 23 (1);

“national military list of another Member State” means a military list established by a Member State other than the State which has the same force and effect in that Member State as the national military export control list;

“Order of 2009” means the Control of Exports (Dual Use Items) Order 2009 ( S.I. No. 443 of 2009 );

“personal data” has the same meaning as it has in the General Data Protection Regulation;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister; “provider of technical assistance” has the same meaning as it has in Article 2;

“record” means any memorandum, book, plan, map, drawing, diagram, pictorial or graphic work or other document, any photograph, film or recording (whether of sound or images or both), any form (including machine-readable form) or thing in which information is held or stored manually, mechanically or electronically and anything that is a part, copy, transcript or reproduction in any form, of any of the foregoing or is a combination of two or more of any of the foregoing;

“Regulations of 2018” means the Control of Exports (Appeals) Regulations 2018 ( S.I. No. 457 of 2018 );

“Regulations of 2021” means the Control of Exports (Brokering Activities, Goods and Technology) Regulations 2021 ( S.I. No. 207 of 2021 );

“relevant activity”, in so far as an authorisation is required for the activity under the Dual-use Regulation or Part 2 or Part 3 , means—

(a) the export of a relevant item,

(b) the provision of brokering services in respect of a relevant item,

(c) the provision of technical assistance in respect of a dual-use item,

(d) the transit of a relevant item, or

(e) the transfer of a dual-use item from the State to a Member State other than the State;

“relevant decision” means a decision under—

(a) paragraph (b) or (c) of subsection (4) or subsection (8) of section 29 ,

(b) subsection (5) or (7) of section 34 , or

(c) subsection (5) or (7) of section 35 ; “relevant item” means—

(a) a dual-use item or cyber-surveillance item in respect of which an authorisation is required under the Dual-use Regulation or Part 2 , or

(b) a military item in respect of which an authorisation is required under Part 3 ;

“relevant material” means any decision, evidence, document, material or other matter that—

(a) is relevant to an appeal under section 43 or 50 , any further appeal following such an appeal or an application under section 51 ,

(b) is not publicly available, and

(c) relates to the security or public order of the State; “relevant notice” means a notice under—

(a) subsection (3), (4), (6) or (7) of section 10 ,

(b) subsection (2) or (4) of section 14 , or

(c) subsection (2) or (4) of section 16 ; “relevant person” means—

(a) an exporter, broker or person who transits a relevant item,

(b) a provider of technical assistance in respect of a dual-use item, or

(c) a person who transfers a dual-use item from the State to a Member State other than the State;

“technical assistance” has the same meaning as it has in Article 2;

“technical data” includes blueprints, plans, diagrams, models, formulae, tables, engineering designs and specifications, manuals and instruction in writing or recorded on media or devices such as disk, tape or read only memories;

“technology” means specific information necessary for the development, production or operation, installation, maintenance, repair, overhaul or refurbishing of a dual-use or military item, which information takes the form of technical data or technical assistance;

“third country” means a country or territory other than the State or another Member State;

“transit”—

(a) in so far as it relates to a dual-use item, has the meaning given to it by section 9 , and

(b) in so far as it relates to a military item, has the meaning given to it by section 22 ;

“Union Customs Code” means Regulation (EU) No. 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 201312 laying down the Union Customs Code (recast).

(2) In this Act—

(a) a reference to a numbered Article is a reference to the Article so numbered of the Dual-use Regulation, and

(b) a reference to a numbered Annex is a reference to the Annex so numbered of the Dual-use Regulation.

(3) A word or expression that is used in this Act and is also used in the Union Customs Code, the Dual-use Regulation or Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP, has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in this Act as it has in the Union Customs Code, the Dual-use Regulation or Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP.

2 OJ No. L335, 13.12.2008, p. 99

3 OJ No. L239, 17.9.2019, p. 16

4 OJ No. L206, 11.6.2021, p. 1

5 OJ No. L354, 23.12.2016, p. 32

6 OJ No. L83, 25.3.2019, p. 38

7 OJ No. L111, 25.4.2019, p. 54

8 OJ No. L317, 9.12.2022, p. 1

9 OJ No. L3, 6.1.2022, p. 1

10 OJ No. L130I, 4.5.2022, p. 1

11 OJ No. L119, 4.5.2016, p. 1

12 OJ No. L 269, 10.10.2013, p. 1