How to create an effective export control program

Is your company involved with international export? Especially if you work with sensitive, military or dual-use (items that can be used for both military and civilian purposes) goods, products or information, it is essential and required that you develop a sufficient international trade compliance program. If you do not adhere to rules and regulations surrounding your export activities, you risk high fines, losing your export control license or even criminal prosecution. In this guide, you read everything you need to know to create an effective and compliant export control program.

What is an export control program?

An export control program is developed to comply with international export control rules and regulations. These are put in place by governments worldwide to ensure national security and to prevent potentially destructive military technologies from falling into the wrong hands. In an export management and compliance program, you describe what internal control measures you are taking to monitor international export control legislation. You can see it as a manual with procedures and protocols surrounding export risks.

The mandatory internal compliance programme

First of all: if you want to receive a global export license in the Netherlands, an internal compliance programme (ICP) is mandatory. The Central Office for Import and Export (CDIU) determines whether your internal export compliance program is sufficient for a global export license. The requirement of providing an export control program with your application is part of the Netherlands’ export control policy. This is not only the case for the Netherlands: several other European countries also have this requirement. There is a big possibility that an internal export compliance program will become mandatory in the entire European Union (EU). It is therefore very important to start – if you haven’t already – with creating your own global trade compliance program. You can find an extensive overview of guidelines for the set-up of such a programme here.

Our solution pillars

We offer a unique Export Control & Compliance program, called the “A4 approach”. The A4 aproach, combines solid compliance structure with Lean Six Sigma / Lean Thinking techniques. Why? Because it is simple, easy to understand and a perfect base to find the compliance starting point withing your organization

Aware

Most companies are not aware of sanctions & export control regulations. We create awareness by straight forward, to-the-point training.

Assess

What is the maturity of your sanction & export control compliance? We have developed a lean compliance assesment tool called SCAN365.

Adapt

Now you’re aware of the gaps in your compliance process, fixing them is the next challenge. Translating the gaps in your processes into solid solutions.

Assist

Outside assistance and coaching will keep you sharp. Because you can’t know everything in the volatile domains of sanctions & export controls.

Follow the A4-approach

Find the perfect base for export compliance with our A4-approach. Within 4 stages, you can determine what compliance starting point fits with your organization. The 4 stages are:

Aware: start by becoming familiar with the right export laws and regulations. This is an ongoing process, since these rules are always subject to change.
Assess: what state are you in right now? What risks are you running, and what opportunities are ahead
Adapt: when you know what to look for, it will become clear where you have to make changes to your current export controls audit program. You can start with the implementation of your export compliance.
Assist: if you are struggling with the constant changing of rules and regulations surrounding export control, you want to be able to rely on an independent expert. Get in touch with professionals in this field who can help you navigate through an export compliance audit program.

Outsourcing export control compliance

If you are having difficulties with understanding the extensive world of export control, or if you simply do not have the time to review all your export control activities, outsourcing might be the solution for you. At Export Control Group, we offer a unique Export Control Officer as a Service™. With this service, you can hire an export control expert who can assist you with every aspect of export control. Whether you want help with the correct classification of goods or with the set-up of the mandatory internal compliance program: the Export Control Officer will mitigate your risks of violation. On top of that, this program includes access to the online internal compliance program ICP365.

In need of assistance within the world of export control? We can help you!

Building a compliant export control program is a challenging task, especially if you are not familiar with all the different international rules and regulations surrounding export control. At Export Control Group, we work with and monitor these laws daily. We know exactly how to mitigate export risks and make sure your organization becomes compliant. Wondering how we can help you? Do not hesitate to contact us!

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