BAFA to modernise export controls as part of ‘growth agenda’
The German government says that its Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (‘BMWK’) will ‘promptly implement a further package of measures to accelerate and optimise export control procedures via the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA).’ This, it says, will ‘facilitate certain exports of armaments and dual-use goods and further streamline administrative processes in export controls [but] the test standards in export control remain unaffected by this.’
In a statement, Bernhard Kluttig, State Secretary in the BMWK, said, ‘BMWK and BAFA have already launched three packages between September 2023 and March 2024 to sustainably accelerate export operations. The measures are having an effect: the number of open applications and processing times have fallen significantly since then. With a fourth package of measures, we are now going one step further, among other things by making it easier to submit applications in export controls and expanding the scope of application of existing general licences. These targeted measures enable significantly more efficient approval procedures while at the same time maintaining high testing standards.’
BAFA said that with the new measures, ‘Various general permits (‘AGGs’) will be expanded. AGGs are blanket export licences for armaments that can be used by exporters without having to submit an export application. They apply to the non-critical export of selected goods to selected countries, which is nevertheless subject to approval.’
‘Recently,’ it said, ‘the AGG No. 36 (naval equipment to certain government end users). With the new package of measures, the AGG No. 33 to include further goods for certain countries. In addition, the AGGs No. 13 and No. 25, with regard to its use for exports and shipments in implementation of the Federal Government’s upgrading initiatives. In the area of dual-use goods, in addition to the new AGG No. 43 for the re-export of dual-use items and the AGG No. 44 for the storage of software and technology on protected cloud servers, adjustments and extensions have also been made to collective export licences and maximum amount licences.’
