Information on export control
In its various fields of activity, Paderborn University acts not only on a national but also on an international level. For example, it maintains international cooperations, educates foreign students, receives international guest researchers and partly covers its demand for supplies and services on the international market.
Within the scope of its fields of activity, Paderborn University thus participates in foreign trade, which, although basically free, is restricted by state intervention in order to protect the international community from human rights violations, proliferation and terrorism.
These restrictions, summarised under the term export control, are anchored both in national law (Foreign Trade and Payments Act - Außenwirtschaftsgesetz (AWG) in conjunction with the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance - Außenwirtschaftsverordnung (AWV)) and in EU Union law (e.g. Dual-Use Regulation (VO (EU) 2021/821)). At the international level, US (re-) export law with its extraterritorial claim to validity must also be observed.
The common goal of these regulations is to prevent security from being threatened by weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons and to prevent sensitive goods as well as sensitive knowledge and skills from entering crisis areas.
Paderborn University, like all companies, universities, etc., is obliged to comply with these regulations. Neither the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of science nor a civil clause exempts us from this obligation. The aim of export controls is not to restrict research or censor its results, but solely to prevent their misuse.
Violations of the aforementioned national and European regulations can lead to serious reputational damage for UPB and the persons/institutes involved, and in extreme cases can result in fines or imprisonment for persons involved.
The following questions will help you to assess whether the provisions of foreign trade and payments law need to be taken into account in your project and whether any associated prohibitions or licensing requirements need to be observed:
The first step is to check whether there are any personal embargoes against the person or organisation involved in your project. The content and scope of the respective sanctions are summarised in national and international sanctions lists. An entry in one of these lists has far-reaching effects for the respective person or organisation. By freezing all their funds and economic resources, they are effectively deprived of their assets.
As a result, all economic operators are prohibited from making money or economic resources directly or indirectly available to the listed persons or entities. Economic resources are assets of any kind, regardless of whether they are tangible or intangible and movable or immovable, which do not represent money themselves but can be used for the acquisition of funds, goods or services.
Embargoes related to persons or organisations are independent of the involvement of a specific state in your project and can therefore in principle affect any situation.
Insofar as personal embargoes do not exist, in the case of an intended transfer or export of items (the term includes goods, software and technology) to a third country, the next step is to assess whether the respective item is classified as particularly sensitive in foreign trade. This is the case with dual-use items (items that can be used for both civilian and military purposes) and, on the other hand, with military equipment, weapons and ammunition. The items concerned are listed and defined in the national export list (Annex to the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance) and the European list of goods (Annex I to the EC Dual Use Regulation). In addition to goods, these lists also contain software and technology.
When making your assessment, please note in particular that the provision of technology in embodied and also in unembodied form (transfer by telephone, e-mail or provision of data in a cloud) may also constitute an export.
In addition to the export of such sensitive items, the provision of certain services known as "technical assistance" (e.g. in connection with a military end-use or nuclear facilities) is also subject to export restrictions.
Technical assistance is any technical support related to repair, development, manufacture, assembly, testing, maintenance, or any other technical service. Technical assistance may take forms such as instruction, training, transmission of working knowledge or skills or consulting services. It also covers oral, telephonic and electronic forms of assistance.
The intended export of sensitive items and also technical assistance in certain areas regularly requires prior contact with the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) because of the item-related licensing or information obligations.
For an initial assessment of whether an item (goods, software, technology) to be exported or for which technical assistance is to be provided is subject to restrictions, a Customs tool can be used: auskunft.ezt-online.de - to determine the items number required for this purpose, you can use the page www.zolltarifnummern.de.
In case of doubt, you can always contact the Export Control Officer.
The next step is to look at the country involved in your project with regard to possible embargoes. Foreign trade with certain countries may be restricted or prohibited. Such country-specific restrictions may also affect persons residing in Germany if they are citizens or residents of such a country.
A distinction is made between total embargoes (usually a complete ban on foreign trade), partial embargoes (restrictions on certain goods and services, always on an individual basis) and arms embargoes (bans on the sale, export, import and transit of military equipment and related services).
An overview of current country embargoes including the underlying legal acts can be found here: www.sanctionsmap.eu
Further information on the subject of embargoes can be found on the BAFA website: www.bafa.de/DE/Aussenwirtschaft/Ausfuhrkontrolle/Embargos/embargos_node.html
Finally, the actual use of the items to be exported must be assessed.
This is because the export of an item not included in the List of Goods or the Export List also entails use-related licensing requirements if it is connected with a sensitive use ("catch-all-clause"). These include chemical, biological nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices and missiles, general military use, nuclear purposes or nuclear use.
A licensing requirement presupposes that you yourself either have knowledge of the sensitive use or have been informed of this by the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control.
It should be noted that there is no duty of investigation here. However, if you become aware of the planned sensitive use or if it is obvious from the circumstances, contact the Export Control Officer.
