Amendments to General Authorizations Concerning Armaments and Dual-Use Goods

The Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) has extended all General Export Authorizations (GAs) that would have expired on March 31, 2025, until March 31, 2026. Some of the extended GAs were amended effective April 1, 2025. We present the changes below. GAs are a special type of export license. They have the same effect as other export licenses but do not need to be applied for. Instead, GAs are issued automatically and mean that all exports that meet the requirements of the respective GA are automatically authorized. The exporter only needs to register with BAFA as a user of the GA. The possibility of using an export control agreement (ECA) therefore offers advantages for the exporter with regard to immediate delivery and planning security. Armaments/Additional Exclusions/ECA Nos. 18, 19, 21, 23, 25, 26 and 35 for the export and transfer of certain armaments have been supplemented by an exclusion. Accordingly, these export control regulations do not apply if the exporter has been informed by the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) that the goods in question are intended, or may be intended, wholly or partly for supporting the Russian attack or terrorist activities against representatives and institutions of the Ukrainian government or the Ukrainian civilian population, or if the exporter is aware that the goods are intended for these purposes. In regulations Nos. 19, 21, 22, 26, 27, 33, 35, and 36, it was clarified that they do not apply if, for the identical export or transfer project, an individual, maximum value, or collective license was granted before the respective regulation came into force, the validity period of which has not yet expired, and the authorized value of the goods has not yet been fully utilized. In practice, this means that the export declaration should not specify the code for the General Export Authorization (GA) but rather the relevant code for the issued individual, maximum value, or collective authorization. Editorial Adjustments to Permitted Destinations: In General Export Authorizations 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 33, 34, and 36, destinations belonging to the customs territory of the Union have been deleted. However, this deletion has no effect on the scope of application of the General Export Authorizations. For almost all of the aforementioned General Export Authorizations, these destinations are already covered by another number or bullet point in Section II. The only exception is General Export Authorization No. 20 (trading and brokerage transactions). However, the deletion does not ultimately entail any substantive tightening of regulations, as Section 46 of the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance (AWV) stipulates that no licensing requirement exists for trade and brokerage transactions to destinations within the customs territory of the European Union. Further Adjustments: In General Provisions No. 25, the period during which goods may remain in Germany after prior importation has been doubled from 12 to 24 months. Furthermore, according to General Provisions No. 25, the temporary transfer or export of software or technology that may not be made available to third parties is now only possible if the goods are returned to Germany within 24 months. However, the return period can be extended or waived in justified individual cases upon application to the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA). The exporter or transferor is in any case obliged to prove the date of export or transfer and the return of the goods to the country by means of suitable documents, which must be included with the business records, and to submit these to the BAFA upon request. Furthermore, it was clarified in AGG No. 25 that the submission of nil reports is only required with regard to case group 4.19 – the only case group for which AGG No. 25 stipulates a reporting obligation. If no exports or transfers subject to reporting requirements were carried out during the reporting period based on General Provision No. 25 in accordance with category 4.19, this fact must be reported electronically (zero report). The notes to General Provision No. 27 now clarify that onward deliveries in accordance with paragraphs 3 and 4 of General Provision No. 25 to recipients or end-users in Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom are also permitted. Furthermore, the use of General Provision No. 33, which, unlike the other provisions, generally requires obtaining an end-user certificate as a prerequisite for claiming the commission, now provides for exceptions to the obligation to obtain an end-user certificate in certain cases. The requirement to obtain an end-user certificate can therefore be waived if one of the exemptions listed in Section IV, No. 2.1 or 2.2 of the "Notice on End-Use Documents pursuant to Section 21 Paragraph 6 of the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance (AWV) for goods covered by Part I A of the Export List" of August 1, 2017, applies (temporary exports and transfers at foreign trade fairs; re-exports after importation; technology for promotional purposes; exports and transfers of military goods (excluding software and technology) that are not weapons of war, with a value of less than EUR 5,000 to EU Member States, NATO Member States, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland (so-called 1st group of countries)) or, pursuant to Section III, No. 2.2.1, sentence 3 of this notice, an International Import Certificate can be submitted instead for final exports or transfers to the 1st group of countries mentioned therein. Dual-Use Goods id>Extensions to General Provisions Nos. 13, 14, 37, 38 and 40

In the area of dual-use goods, the most significant change concerns General Provision No. 13. According to this provision, goods brought into the customs territory of the Union and not yet cleared for import can now be re-exported to the country of dispatch within a period of 24 months (previously: 12 months) using the General Provisions unchanged (category 4.14(a)). In addition, the category contained in Section II, number 4.19 has been extended. It governs exports related to marine and polar scientific research. Previously, the category of cases was limited to the use of research vessels and is now extended to include the use of research aircraft by research centers that receive institutional funding from the Federal Republic of Germany. Furthermore, the scope of permitted destinations under AGG Nos. 14, 37, 38, and 40 has been expanded to include Heligoland. Restriction of AGG No. 41: AGG No. 41 has been expanded to include an exclusion clause. The AGG no longer applies if the original export of the main item for which the spare parts are intended was carried out using AGG No. 13. Practical advice: Exporters should review existing export license applications to determine whether the use of an AGG is possible. If so, existing export license applications can be withdrawn, and the goods can be exported or transferred directly.