Secretary of State for International Trade, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, through a Written Ministerial Statement dated 8th December 2021 set out the new Strategic Export Licensing Criteria in a Government Trade Policy Update. The statement also announced the UK Government’s intention to enhance the UK’s military end-use controls to allow these controls to apply to a wider array of end-use scenarios. The statement also confirmed that China would be added to the list of those destinations subject to an arms embargo.
The changes to the licencing criteria, along with China, Hong Kong and Macau now being included in the destinations subject to an arms embargo came into effect on 19th May 2022. They were implemented by The Export Control (Amendment) Order 2022.
This will not change the extent of the partial arms embargo on China but will mean that the updated military end-use controls will apply.
Links the Notice to Exporters 2022/17, the End Use guidance and Written Ministerial Statement made in December 2021 are below.