History of Export Controls
The Export Control Organisation is responsible for legislation which controls dual-use, military, firearms, technology and other items that for strategic reasons need an export licence. Legislation is derived from both European and UK law and continues to evolve. While current information on the controls is published on the Businesslink website, this page provides some historical background and links to archived material.
UK legislation concerning Strategic Export Controls is not a recent phenomenon.
Background to current UK legislation
Export provisions in this area were originally outlined in the Import, Export and Customs Powers (Defence) Act 1939.
This Act was subsequently repealed with the coming into force of the Export Control Act 2002 (which took effect in 2004). This is still in force and introduced powers for implementing secondary legislation (or Orders).
When the Export Control Act 2002 originally came into force, there were 4 implementing Orders as follows:
- Export of Goods, Transfer of Technology and Provision of Technical Assistance (Control) Order 2003) known as "the Main Order"
- Trade in Goods (Control) Order 2003
- Trade in Controlled Goods (Embargoed Destinations) Order 2004
- Technical Assistance Control Regulations 2006
In 2007, the Export Control Organisation (which is responsible for legislation in this area) conducted a review involving consultation with industry. This resulted in the introduction of new implementing legislation in the form of a single Export Control Order 2008. This Order consolidated and updated export control legislation.
The Order came into force on 6 April 2009.
Current legislation and guidance
You can access information and guidance on current legislation in force (both European Union and UK legislation) from the export control pages on the Businesslink website.
The UK Government also publishes all legislation centrally on the Office for Public Sector Information (OPSI) website. You can use this site if you want to search for the detailed legislation and know the SI or Statutory Instrument number (by which all legislation is named and can be identified.
Archived policy information
For historical purposes only, you can access the following links to archived web content on the National Archives website:
These pages provide a background historical context for the UK's export control legislative framework and ongoing political development of controls.
The National Archives is the UK Government's official archive. It is responsible for preserving digital government information by regularly archiving UK central government websites. You can find out more about its work at The National Archives and also Search the UK Government Web Archive.
Export Control Organisation
Updated: 9 July 2010
