Export licences for defence materiel to be applied online as of 2017

In the Ministry of Defence, export licences and preliminary statements related to defence materiel will be processed electronically beginning 1 January, 2017. The new system will speed up the granting of licences and their delivery to customers.

To apply for a licence, customers will sign up on an e-Service and fill in an electronic application form. The user interface is web-based and the data connection to the e-Service will be protected using the SSL certificate. Customers using the e-Service will not be charged any fee and the use will not require any separate permit or special programme. 

The e-Service is based on the Katso identification system of the Finnish Tax Administration. Further information about the Katso ID service and how to obtain an ID, please visit the Tax Administration's website.

Instructions for the transition period

If a company is applying for a licence in the latter part of 2016

• should the materiel be exported before 31 December, 2016, the export licence will be applied for in paper form as before;
• for exports in 2017, licences will be applied for online starting on 1 January, 2017.

If a company already has an export licence which is valid after 1 January, 2017 with materiel still to be delivered

• the original licence has to be returned to the Ministry of Defence with the  information on which materiel if any has been exported with the licence up to that time. After 1 January 2017, the company needs to apply for a new licence online to be able to export the remaining defence materiel. The old export licence must be scanned and attached to the new application. In addition, details of the defence materiel already exported  must be specified.
• The new licence will be free of cost and it can be processed rapidly.

A seminar and further instructions in December

The Ministry of Defence will organise an export control seminar for companies and interest groups on Thursday, 1 December 2016 (see invitation and programme, PDF in Finnish) The seminar will focus on advising how the e-Service functions. The participants can also test the use of the system in practice. The seminar will be held in Finnish.

The application forms, a link to the e-Service and user instructions will be posted on the website of the Ministry of Defence in December 2016.

Inquiries: Riikka Pitkänen, Senior Adviser, tel. +358 295 140 421, and Riitta Tanttu, Secretary, tel. +358 295 140 422. The e-mail addresses are in the format firstname.lastname@defmin.fi.

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