MILITARY EQUIPMENT (EXPORT CONTROL) REGULATIONS

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 653.04

MILITARY EQUIPMENT (EXPORT CONTROL)

REGULATIONS

1st January, 2002

LEGAL NOTICE 269 of 2001, as amended by Legal Notices 376 of 2003,

168 of 2006 425 of 2007 and 195 of 2020.

The title of these regulations is the Military Equipment

(Export Control) Regulations.

Added by

L.N. 168 of 2006.

Regulations 3 and 4

List of Military Equipment

The Common Military List of the European Union, adopted by the Council on 18

February 2019 (equipment covered by Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP

defining common rules governing the control of exports of military technology and

equipment) (updating and replacing the Common Military Lists of the European

Union adopted by the Council on 26 February 2018) shall be applicable in its

entirety as the First Schedule to these regulations.

(1)

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise

requires

"Act" means the National Interest (Enabling Powers) Act;

''broker'' means any natural or legal person engaged in brokering

activities;

''brokering activities'' means activities of persons and entities -

(a) negotiating or arranging transactions that may involve

the transfer of items listed in the Manual from any

country, including Malta, to any other country; or

(b) who buy, sell or arrange the transfer of such items that

are in their ownership from any country, including

Malta, to any other country;

"country" includes territory;

"Director" means the Director responsible for trade and includes

any officer designated or authorised by the Director to act for a

purpose or class of purposes of these regulations

Provided that for the purposes of article 30(3) of the

Customs Ordinance, the Minister or the Director shall act in

consultation with the Minister responsible for Customs, or such

other authority, head of department or person appointed for the

purpose by such Minister;

"essential component" means the barrel, the frame, the receiver,

including both upper and lower receivers, where applicable the slide,

the cylinder, the bolt or the breech block, which, being separate

objects, are included in the category of the firearms on which they are

or are intended to be mounted;

"export", unless the context otherwise requires, means export

from Malta, and includes the transmission of software or

technology by fax, telephone or other electronic media (except that

oral transmission of technology by telephone is included only

where the technology is contained in a document the relevant part

of which is read out over the telephone, or is described over the

telephone in such a way as to achieve substantially the same result

as if it had been so read);

"export declaration" means the act whereby a person indicates in

the prescribed f orm a nd manner the wish to p la ce milita ry

equipment under an export procedure;

"exporter" means any natural or legal person on whose behalf an

export declaration is made, that is to say the person who, at the time

when the declaration is accepted, holds the contract with the

consignee in the third country and has the power for determining

the sending of the item out of the customs territory of Malta. If no

export contract has been concluded or if the holder of the contract

does not act on its own behalf, the power for determining the

sending of the item out of the customs territory of Malta shall be

decisive;

"firearm" means any portable barrelled weapon that expels, is

designed to expel or may be converted to expel a shot, bullet or

projectile by the action of a combustible propellant, unless it is

excluded from that definition for one (1) of the reasons listed in

Part III of Annex I of Council Directive 91/447/EEC of 18 June

1991 on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons.

Firearms are classified in Part II of Annex I.

An object shall be considered to be capable of being converted to

expel a shot, bullet or projectile by the action of a combustible

propellant if

(a) it has the appearance of a firearm; and

(b) as a result of its construction or the material from

which it is made, it can be so converted;

"import" and "export" in relation to a vessel, submersible vehicle

or aircraft includes the taking into or out of Malta of the vessel,

submersible vehicle or aircraft notwithstanding that the vessel,

submersible vehicle or aircraft is conveying goods or passengers,

and whether or not it is moving under its own power; and cognate

expressions shall be construed accordingly;

"items in transit" means items which only pass through the þ

territory of Malta, that is those which are not assigned a customs-

approved treatment or use other than the external transit procedure

or which are merely placed in a free zone or a free warehouse and

where no record of them has to be kept in an approved stock record;

"military equipment" means any used or unused items, including

software and technology, which are listed in the First Schedule;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for trade;

"nor mal comm ercial journey" means a journey providing

transport services in the ordinary course of business;

"person" means any natural or legal person;

"scheduled journey" means one of a series of journeys which are

undertaken between the same two places and which together

amount to a systematic service operated in such manner that its

benefits are available to members of the public from time to time

seeking to take advantage of it;

"surface effect vehicle" means any air cushion vehicle (whether

side wall or skirted) and any vehicle using the wing-in-ground

effect for positive lift;

"vessel" includes any ship, surface effect vehicle, vessel of small

waterplane area or hydrofoil, and the hull or part of the hull of a

vessel.

(2) Any reference in these regulations to time after an event is

a reference to a period of that length of time beginning on the day

after that event.

(3) In these regulations, except where the context otherwise

requires, any reference to -

(a) a numbered regulation is a reference to the regulation

in these regulations which is so numbered;

(b) a numbered subregulation is a reference to the

subregulation which is so numbered in the regulation

where the reference occurs.

Amended by

L.N. 168 of 2006.

Export of Military Equipment

Authorization Application Form

1. EXPORTER

Vat No

2. CONSIGNEE

Name of company

Name

Address

Address

Name of contact person

Name of contact person

Tel. No

Tel. No

Fax No

Fax No

e-Mail Address

3. AGENT/REPRESENTATIVE

4. END-USER

Name of company

Name

Address

Address

Name of contact person

Name of contact person

Tel. No

Tel. No

Fax No

Fax No

e-Mail Address

5. Country of origin

6. Country of consignment

7. Country

of

final

destination

8. Description of the item*

9. Commodity Code

10. Control list no.

(1) An authorization by the Director shall be required for

the export of the items listed in the First Schedule.

(2) Any authorization so granted by the Director in pursuance

of these regulations may be

(a) limited so as to expire on a specified date unless

renewed;

(b) subject to or without conditions, and any such

condition may require or prohibit any act before or

after the export of items under that authorization;

(c) annulled, suspended, modified or revoked by the

Director.

(3) When applying for an export authorization, exporters shall

supply the Director with all the relevant information required for

their applications. Applications shall be submitted on a form as set

out in the Second Schedule.

(1) Subject to the provisions of these regulations no person

shall make any export of items specified in the First Schedule, to

any destination except under and in accordance with an

authorization as specified in regulation 3.

(2)

These regulations apply also to items in transit.

(3) Exporters shall without undue delay and by not later than two

(2) weeks from the date of the export, report to the Director through

the submission of a delivery receipt, depicting that the export

authorised in terms of regulation 3, has been effected.

(1)

Prior to engaging in any brokering activities

relating to the transfer of any item listed in the Manual, brokers shall

submit a written application to the Director for the issue of a licence

to act as a broker, therein providing all the relevant information

requested by the Director.

(2) On receipt of an application for the issue of a licence to

act as a broker, the Director shall perform background checks and

shall submit the relevant information to the Commissioner of Police

so that a criminal record check is carried out with regard to the

applicant

Provided that in the case of a legal person, the check

shall be both on the legal person and on the natural person or persons

directing the undertaking

Provided further that apart from carrying out

background checks through the Commissioner of Police, the Director

may also request information from other entities in order to establish

the private and professional integrity and the relevant abilities of the

applicant concerned.

(3) The Director shall not issue a licence to act as a broker if

it results that the applicant has been convicted of a criminal offence

which in the opinion the Director may impinge on the applicant’s

private and professional integrity and, or the applicant’s relevant

abilities

Provided that in the case of a legal person, this shall also

apply if it results that the natural person or persons directing the

undertaking have been convicted of such a criminal offence.

(4) The Director shall also not issue a licence to act as a

broker if from the information given to the Director it results that the

applicant has pending criminal proceedings relating to a criminal

offence which in the opinion the Director may impinge on the

applicant’s private and professional integrity and, or the applicant’s

relevant abilities

Provided that in the case of a legal person, this shall also apply

if it results that the natural person or persons directing the undertaking

has pending criminal proceedings relating to such a criminal offence.

(1) No person shall engage himself in any brokering

activities relating to the transfer from any country, including Malta,

to any other country of any item listed in the First Schedule to these

regulations unless

(a)

he is in possession of a licence issued by the

Director to act as a broker; and

(b)

an authorisation is granted by the Director for the

transfer of such item.

(2)

Brokers may refuse to complete any transaction for the

acquisition of complete rounds of ammunition, or components of

ammunition, which they reasonably consider to be suspicious owing to

its nature or scale, and shall report any such attempted transaction to

the Director.

(3)

Brokers shall without undue delay and by not later than

two (2) weeks from the date of the transfer, report to the Director

through the submission of a delivery receipt, that the transfer

authorised in terms of sub-regulation (1) has been effected.

(1) In relation to brokering activities, the Director shall

keep a data filing system which shall record all information relating

to firearms which is needed in order to trace and identify those

firearms, including

(a)

the type, make, model, calibre and serial number

of each firearm and the mark applied to its frame or receiver as

a unique marking in accordance with sub-regulation (1), which

shall serve as the unique identifier of each firearm;

(b)

the serial number or unique marker applied to the

essential components, where that differs from the marking on

the frame or receiver of each firearm;

(c)

the names and addresses of the suppliers and of

the persons acquiring or possessing the firearm, together with

the relevant date or dates; and

(d)

any conversions or modifications to a firearm

leading to a change in its category or subcategory, including its

certified deactivation or destruction and the relevant date or

dates.

(2)

The Director shall ensure that the record of firearms and

the essential components, including the related personal data, is

retained in the data filing systems for a period of thirty (30) years after

the destruction of the firearms or essential components in question.

The records of firearms and essential components referred to in

sub-regulation (1) and the related personal data shall be made

available and be capable of being accessed

(a)

by the Director or by the national authorities

competent for customs proceedings for a period of ten (10)

years after the destruction of the firearm or the essential

components in question; and

(b)

by the national authorities competent for the

prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal

offences or the execution of criminal penalties, for a period of

thirty (30) years after the destruction of the firearm or the

essential components in question.

(3) The Director shall ensure that the personal data is deleted from

the data-filing systems upon expiry of the periods specified in sub-

regulation (2). This is without prejudice to cases in which specific

personal data have been transferred to a national authority competent

for the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal

offences or the execution of criminal penalties and are used in that

specific context, or to other national authorities competent for a

compatible purpose. In those cases, the processing of such data shall

be regulated by the Data Protection Act.

(1) These regulations do not apply to the exportation of

any goods by the Armed Forces of Malta

(a) for use by an International United Nations Force in the

course of its duties as such;

(b) for use in connection with EU-led Peace-Keeping

Operations sanctioned by UN/OSCE;

(c) for use in connection with distress situations and other

cases of an emergency nature;

(d) for the purpose of their being repaired, overhauled,

refitted, modified, tested or maintained and returned to

Malta;

(e) for the purpose of their being used at international

military competitions, or

(f)

for the purposes of testing of munitions.

(2)

Nothing in these regulations prohibits the export of

(a) any aircraft on a scheduled journey;

(b) any aircraft the immediately preceding import of

which was on a scheduled journey and which is

intended for further scheduled journeys;

(c) any vessel which is departing temporarily from Malta

on trials;

(d) any vessel proceeding on a normal commercial

journey.

When completing the formalities for the export of military

equipment at the customs office responsible for handling the export

declaration, the exporter shall furnish proof that any necessary

export authorization has been obtained.

(1) For the purposes of obtaining any authorization no

person shall

(a) make any statement or furnish any document or

information which to that person’s knowledge is false

in a material particular; or

(b) recklessly make any statement or furnish any

document or information which is false in a material

particular.

(2) Any authorization which may have been granted by the

Director in connection with an application for which a false

statement was made or a false document or information was

furnished shall be void as from the time it was granted.

(1) Not later than thirty days after any person makes an

export for a first time by virtue of an authorization granted by the

Director, that person shall give to the Director written notice of the

following particulars

(a) the name of the person; and

(b) the address at which copies of the records referred to

in regulation 9 may be inspected by any person

authorized by the Minister under regulation 9.

(2) A person who has given to the Director written notice of

particulars under subregulation (1) shall, not later than thirty days

after any change in those particulars, give to the Director written

notice of the changed particulars.

(1) Exporters shall keep detailed registers or records of

their exports. Such registers or records shall include in particular

commercial documents such as invoices, manifests and transport

and other dispatch documents, containing sufficient information to

allow the following to be identified

(a) the description of the military equipment;

(b) the quantity of the military equipment;

(c) the name and address of the exporter and of the

consignee;

(d) in so far as it is known to that person, the end use of

the military equipment and the name and address of

the end-user.

(2) The records referred to in subregulation (1) shall be kept

for at least three years from the end of the calendar year in which

the export took place, and the person concerned shall permit any

such records to be inspected and copied by any person authorized

by the Minister.

(3) Any person authorized by the Minister may, on producing if

required to do so a duly authenticated document showing his

a u t ho r i ty, a t a ny r e a s o na b le ho u r en te r, f o r t h e p u r po s e o f

subregu1ation (2), the premises of which the address has most

recently been notified to the Director under regulation 8.

(4) Where any documents or records referred to in

subregulation (2) are kept in a form which is not legible the

exporter shall at the request of the person authorized by the

Minister, reproduce such documents or records in a legible form.

(1) Throughout their period of activity, brokers shall

maintain a register in which each firearm and each essential

component that is received or disposed of by them shall be

recorded, together with particulars enabling the firearm or essential

component concerned to be identified and traced, in particular the

type, make, model, calibre and serial number thereof and the names

and addresses of the suppliers and of the persons acquiring it.

(2)

Upon cessation of their activities, brokers shall deliver that

MILITARY EQUIPMENT (EXPORT CONTROL)

register to the Director.

(1) Any person in Malta, or any citizen or permanent

resident of Malta, whether in Malta or elsewhere, who -

(a) exports items from Malta by virtue of an authorization

granted by the Director and fails to comply with any

condition attaching to that authorization, or

(b) contravenes any of these regulations,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a

term of imprisonment not exceeding five years or to a fine (multa)

not exceeding one hundred and sixteen thousand and four hundred

and sixty-eight euro and sixty-seven cents (116,468.67).

(2) No person is guilty of an offence under subregulation (1)(a)

where

(a) the condition in question had been previously modified

without that person’s consent by the Director;

(b) the alleged failure to comply would not have been a

failure had the authorization not been so modified;,

and

(c) that person proves that the items in relation to which

he has failed to comply with the condition had, at the

time the condition was modified, already been

exported.

MILITARY EQUIPMENT (EXPORT CONTROL)

Currency and Value

Quantity of the

items

End use

Contract date

Customs export

procedure

MILITARY EQUIPMENT (EXPORT CONTROL)

Additional information deemed relevant by the exporter

I hereby apply for an export authorization in respect of the item described above and I

declare that all the particulars furnished by me are correct.

Signature

Name in blocks

Date

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY

Reference No

Export authorized

This authorization is valid until

Signature

Stamp

Name in blocks

Date

* Technical specifications of the item should be attached to this application form

Note: Boxes 1 to 17 should all be filled. A separate form should be submitted for each item.

Note: In part I of box 18, enter the quantity still available, and in part 2 of box 18 enter the quantity

deducted on that occasion.

17. Net quantity/value (Net mass/other

Customs document

Name in blocks

unit with indication of unit)

(Type and number

and sig n ature

or extract number)

of Customs

18. In numbers

19. In words

and

date

of

Officer and

for

deduction

stamp

quantity/

value

deducted

1.

2.

1.

2.

1.

2.

1.

2.

1.

2. MILITARY EQUIPMENT (EXPORT CONTROL)

1.

2.

1.

2.

1.

2.