King’s researchers have a responsibility to comply with any relevant legal and regulatory standards, as well as professional codes and local guidelines for conduct.

The International Regulations Office is responsible for ensuring adherence to legislative and best practice requirements, and providing researchers with support and practical advice on matters of International Regulations with regards to research.

The International Regulations Office contributes to King’s overarching Research Strategy, delivering world-leading and outward-looking research focused on meeting societal need by supporting the set up and facilitation of quality research at King’s.

In addition to providing high-level support with the development of policies and procedures, we support the King’s research community through the provision of training and guidance on managing issues. 

What are Export Controls?

Export controls generally regulate the cross-border transfer or disclosure of sensitive physical goods, and associated software, and technology.

• “Transfer” includes physical exports, electronic transfers (via email, file sharing, virtual meetings, accessing technology on a UK server from abroad etc.), and transfers by any other means including verbal communication and physical inspection.
• “Technology” includes academic and scientific research, teaching, collaboration, know-how and other forms of knowledge transfer, and may be subject to export control.
• Not all technology is subject to export control: exemptions are available for technology that is in the public domain and for basic scientific research, amongst others. These exemptions are subject to detailed conditions that must be assessed on a case by case basis, prior to exchanging technology.

In the UK, export controls are implemented by Act of Parliament. Currently the primary regulation is The Export Control Order 2008. The regulations are administered by the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU), an executive branch of the Department for International Trade, and are enforced by HM Revenue and Customs.

There are very heavy civil and criminal penalties for egregious violations of the regulations including unlimited fines and up to 10 years imprisonment. “Egregious” would include exporting in the knowledge that a licence was required, and not available, smuggling, providing false particulars in a licence application, or similar.

Many other countries have an effective and active export control regime which may be complementary between international allies but are jurisdictionally and procedurally different.

How do Export Controls work?

The UK Strategic Export Control Lists are incorporated by reference into the Export Control Order 2008. The lists designate goods, software and technology that are subject to export control. If an individual’s software or technology, academic research or teaching can be identified to that list then the exporter is obliged to obtain an export licence prior to the activity taking place.

Why are Export Controls needed?

UK export controls have been in place in since the First World War. In the first instance, the regulations require government authorisation for international transactions that may affect national security, for example the sale of weapons systems.

The purpose of UK export controls are the:

• protection of national security
• prevention of proliferation and terrorism
• advancement of foreign policy objectives
• compliance with international agreements
• prohibition of trade with regimes that threaten human rights, and countries that are engaged in conflict or internal repression

Other governments apply similar policies, but often in quite different ways, for example the United States’ extraterritorial regulations. It is King’s policy to comply with these regulations.

Applying for an Export Licence

King’s will provide central administrative support and advice through the International Regulations Office and will maintain a central SPIRE account to ensure consistent engagement and central recordkeeping with the ECJU. In some circumstances it may be necessary for the international regulations team to apply for a licence on behalf of the researcher, which should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Technology that requires export authorisation is likely to comprise of research or teaching usually in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, such as:

• Military applications
• Aeronautical and space technology
• Applied chemistry
• Biochemistry and chemical engineering
• Applied physics
• Biotechnology
• Electrical and mechanical engineering
• Instrumentation and sensors
• Materials technology
• Nuclear technologies, production and process technology
• Telecommunications and information security technology

This list is not exhaustive. 

Open General Export Licences

Open General Export Licences (OGELs) are issued under the authority of the Export Control Order 2008 at the instruction of ECJU to cover relatively low risk transactions that would be readily approved by government if they were the subject of a specific licence. OGELs are subject to strict conditions including registration, reporting and auditing by an ECJU compliance inspection team. Failure to comply with OGEL conditions can trigger severe consequences. Although OGELs cover transactions that are low risk it, is a government expectation that rigorous due diligence is carried out – in effect delegating government responsibility to the exporter.

Denied licences

If a licence is denied or is approved with conditions that we cannot comply with, the project will need to be cancelled. Other options that could be considered are working with different partners in different countries, or restricting or redacting deliverables.

Where an individual chooses to release technology in a manner that is not compliant with King’s policy, that individual may be held legally accountable for any noncompliance.

Sanctions are typically imposed by government in response to unfavourable international political developments to leverage behavioural change or to increase the cost of the unfavourable activity on the sanctioned party.

These can be partial (for example a travel ban on an individual, an arms embargo or a prohibition on investment in certain sectors) through to comprehensive measures involving a total ban on business, whether or not the goods, software or technology concerned are identified on a control list.

Sanctions can be applied to individual persons, legal entities such as corporations or government departments, banks and financial institutions, through to comprehensive country-level embargos.

It is King’s policy to conduct due diligence on our partners and not to engage with entities subject to UK or relevant international sanctions.

What is the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA 2021)?

The NSIA 2021 empowers the UK Government to scrutinise and intervene in certain acquisitions made by anyone, including businesses and investors, that could harm the UK’s national security.

Subject to certain criteria, organisations are legally required to inform the government about acquisitions of certain entities or assets in 17 sensitive areas of the economy (called ‘notifiable acquisitions’). The areas are:

1. Advanced Materials
2. Advanced Robotics
3. Artificial Intelligence
4. Civil Nuclear
5. Communications
6. Computing Hardware
7. Critical Suppliers to Government
8. Cryptographic Authentication
9. Data Infrastructure
10. Defence
11. Energy
12. Military and Dual-Use
13. Quantum Technologies
14. Satellite and Space Technologies
15. Suppliers to the Emergency Services
16. Synthetic Biology
17. Transport

The NSIA 2021 also applies to transfers of technology/intellectual property (IP) where the UK government is empowered to review and subsequently block or unwind agreements in these sensitive areas (known as a “call in”), where a national security concern is identified. A formal voluntary notification process is available to assess whether government concerns exist prior to engaging in any agreement.

Some of these sensitive areas are very broad (for example Artificial Intelligence, which can already be found in many mass-market applications e.g. Microsoft Word, Amazon Alexa) and not everything is in scope for governmental review.

An in-depth analysis of the technologies listed above and the circumstances that may trigger concerns can be found at the UK government guidance document 17 Types of Notifiable Acquisitions.

How does NSIA 2021 affect King’s?

It is considered unlikely that King’s will acquire control over a national security asset, however acquisition or disposal of IP is highly likely and presents risk and possible reputational concerns. We must also be mindful of risk to companies in which we hold a minority stake.

King’s International Regulations Office can provide advice and guidance on how to proceed if you believe you may be conducting an activity that might fall under the requirements of the NSIA 2021.

Policy

King’s policy and guidance is to ensure that all staff, students and affiliates at King’s are aware of the requirements to ensure compliance with export control and national security regulations and to direct to relevant support and guidance.

Recordkeeping and Reporting

UK regulations generally require exporters to retain all transactional documents for at least six years from the date of export, however it is recommendable to hold available records describing classification, end user due diligence and transactional compliance measures relating to U.S. export controls for an indefinite period.

If any researcher or staff member is aware of any inconsistent or questionable information relating to export control or national security this can be reported to the International Regulations Office by email. Alternatively, consult King's Information Disclosure (Whistleblowing) Policy and Procedure.

Training

Basic awareness and intermediate automated training developed by the Higher Education Export Compliance Association (HEECA) is being rolled out across King’s, and further advanced training is in development.

The International Regulations Office can also arrange for custom training for individual faculties or departments upon request.

Please note that King's is not responsible for content produced by third parties.

Export controls applying to academic research

Information on how the UK's strategic export controls apply to academics, university researchers and their institutions, and when an export licence is needed. This includes a number of general case studies which may be helpful.

Read more about the export controls applying to academic research.

Department for International Trade

• Find out more about the Department for International Trade.

HEECA

Founded in November 2021, the Higher Education Export Control Association (HEECA) is a national network of practitioners working to develop, maintain and promote best practice in Export Control Compliance across the UK Higher Education sector.

Currently more than 60 UK universities are actively engaged in the HEECA program, implementing training materials that will be shared across the sector, including at King's.

Trusted Research

Trusted Research is a campaign by the UK National Protective Security Authority (NPSA, formerly CPNI) to raise awareness of the risks to research collaborations which may occur when working with organisations or research partners with links to nations whose democratic and ethical values are different from our own.

The scope of Trusted Research is much broader than just export control and associated international regulations but is highly complementary, covering matters such as physical security and safety, travel, and IT security.

The Trusted Research site provides a number of checklists that are helpful when considering export control and sanctions due diligence.

The International Regulations Office can be reached at international-regulations@kcl.ac.uk