Inconsistent EU Export Licensing Regimes Hurting Exporters, Industry Rep Says
A lack of export control harmonization and an uneven playing field across the European Union are increasingly hurting Europe’s semiconductor industry, said Aude Jalabert, a trade compliance manager for Infineon Technologies and a member of the European Semiconductor Industry Association. The export licensing and control regimes across EU member states are mainly marred by inconsistencies, language barriers and a lack of staffing, Jalabert said.
“The time is gone when European companies only have to deal with their own national regulations,” she said, speaking during a Dec. 13 export control conference hosted by the commission in Brussels. “We need harmonization for our export control system. It’s a matter of fairness and efficiency.”
One of the largest discrepancies for the semiconductor industry -- and exporters in general -- is the varying licensing processing times across member states. The average processing time for an export license in the Netherlands is six weeks, Jalabert said, but that time doubles to 12 weeks in Germany and increases to 24 weeks in Italy. She also said the industry routinely faces situations wherein one member state approves a license while another state denies a license for the same product.
“The gap between the fastest and the slowest authorities to issue licenses makes our system less predictable and less transparent for the industry,” Jalabert said. “And time is money.”
She also said it is difficult for European companies to “manage several national” export control lists. Some countries have open general licenses for certain products, while others require traders to apply for individual licenses. Some member states impose strict end-user statement reporting requirements while other member states’ regulations are more relaxed. This has made export control compliance complicated and burdensome, she said, costing companies valuable resources. “They have to hire specific staff or get advising from external counsel and they have to train employees, which -- and I speak from experience -- is always a difficult task,” Jalabert said. “Getting the acceptance of engineers is not the easiest task.”
Even if companies have the resources to comply with regulations from each of the 28 member states, language barriers often create difficulties in translating technical documents, Jalabert said. The EU plans to roll out an e-licensing regime for dual-use exports in 2021 that will be multilingual and may address some of these issues (see 1912240008). But for now, some companies struggle with translating complex export control regulations from English into their country’s language, Jalabert said. “Exporters constantly face problems delivering documents to national authorities in their national language,” she said.
Along with a more streamlined export control system, the European Commission should share a “best practices” guide with member states to help them “evolve” their export control systems and encourage harmonization throughout the EU. Jalabert also suggested more “outreach activities” with the industry, and asked for “an appropriate staffing level” in national licensing authorities. “We need to bring harmonization to the next level,” she said.