Part 7
To avoid duplication, this appendix does not include countries which were included in the appendix of previous Battle Act reports and for which there is no substantial new information on security trade controls which can be reported publicly. Summaries of export controls employed by Thailand and Yugoslavia are given on pages 64 and 69, respectively, of the third Battle Act report. The second Battle Act report contains summaries pertaining to Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru on pages 64-66, and to Indo-China, The Philippines and Lebanon on pages 66, 68 and 71, respectively. Summaries concerning Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela are contained in pages 62-66 of the first Battle Act report, as well as Austria (p. 66), Iceland (p. 70), Afghanistan (p. 75), Burma (p. 76), China (Formosa) (p. 76), Federation of Malaya (p. 81), Iraq (p. 87), colonial Africa (pp. 91-97). All of the summaries mentioned above are still substantially up to date.
Covered in this appendix, in alphabetical order, are the following:
_Country_ _Page_ Belgium-Luxembourg 66 Canada 67 Denmark 67 Egypt 68 France 69 Germany (Federal Republic) and Western Berlin 70 Greece 71 Hong Kong 72 Iran 72 Israel 74 Italy 74 Japan 76 The Republic of Korea 77 The Netherlands 77 Norway 78 Pakistan 79 Portugal 79 Singapore 80 Turkey 80 United Kingdom 81 United States of America 83
BELGIUM-LUXEMBOURG
License Requirements
The basic legislation from which the present import-export control system in Belgium has developed was a law of June 30, 1931, modified by the law of July 30, 1934, which authorized in broad general terms the regulation of Belgium's foreign commerce to promote the general economic well-being of the country. The convention with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on the 23d of May 1935, amending the economic union convention of 1922, established also a combined Belgo-Luxembourg Administrative Commission (the Commission Administrative Mixte Belgo-Luxembourgeoise) and in this way provided a central agency for coordinating the import and export licensing procedures of Belgium and Luxembourg. Pursuant to the 1935 convention, when the appropriate agency of either Government desires to modify or expand regulations pertaining to import and export controls, the recommendation is discussed with the appropriate agencies of the other Government; their agreement having been reached the new policies are communicated to the Mixed Commission which then transmits identical instructions to the Belgian Central Office of Licenses and Quotas and the Luxembourg Office of Licenses. This procedure insures close coordination of the import and export licensing operations of the two Governments in order that the general economic welfare of both may best be served.
The control over exports effected by the requirement of export licenses is reinforced by special controls applied at the time of the actual export of the licensed merchandise. Submission to these special controls is required as a previous condition to the obtaining of certain licenses, these special additional controls being applied by reason of the special nature of the merchandise to be exported or to assure the direct delivery of the merchandise to its foreign destination.
Applicants for export licenses must make a declaration that they are familiar with the conditions upon which licenses are issued and the regulations relative to exchange controls, and that they accept these conditions and regulations without reserve. The applicant also acknowledges that the licenses are not transferable and that any irregularity in his application or utilization of the license subjects him to possible refusals of any new export license applications and may expose him to prosecution for a criminal offense. Exporters of products whose final destination is controlled must sign an undertaking that their exports are not to be reexported. In such cases, the exporter renounces his right to obtain any subsequent export licenses in all cases for which nonreexport declarations are required, if the present undertaking is evaded.
At the present time, licenses are not required for goods passing in transit through Belgium, with the exception of arms and implements of war and atomic energy items, as well as petroleum and its subproducts.
Financial Controls
Prior authorization is required for all buying and selling transactions abroad by Belgian and Luxembourg residents. The exchange control is carried out by the Belgo-Luxembourg Exchange Institute.
Shipping Controls
Belgium has taken action to prevent the carrying of strategic goods in Belgian ships to Communist Chinese and North Korean destinations.
CANADA
Permit Requirements
The Canadian approach to export control is in two parts: by strategic and short supply commodities, and by areas. Under the commodity control two schedules of goods have been established: (1) goods in short supply for which permits are required for shipment to all destinations; and (2) goods of strategic importance for which permits are required for shipments to all countries other than the United States. The area control sets up a list of countries (roughly all of Europe and the Far East) to which all shipments normally require a permit. A general export permit is in effect which enables the shipment of specified nonstrategic items to all destinations except to Communist countries without individual permit.
Export controls are administered by the Export Permit Section of the Canadian Department of Trade and Commerce under authority of The Export and Import Permits Act.
Transit Controls
An export permit is required for all goods originating outside Canada when tendered for export in the same condition as when imported, without further processing or manufacture in Canada. Goods in transit in bond on a through journey on a billing originating outside of Canada, clearly indicating the ultimate destination of the goods to be a third country, do not require a Canadian export permit. Foreign goods passing through Canada to a third country without a through bill of lading require a Canadian export permit. (If such goods represent United States shipments of controlled goods passing through Canada to third countries they must be covered by a United States export permit.) All Canadian goods having an undeclared ultimate destination require export permits. Effective from July 4, 1952, shipments of United States goods through Canada must be accompanied by a copy of the United States export declaration form.
Financial Controls
Canada does not exercise financial controls over the movement of any commodity.
DENMARK
License Requirements
Export licenses are required for all commodities, except certain agricultural products, if the goods are exported to or intended for end use in countries which are not members of the European Payments Union or are within the dollar area.
For the goods enumerated in the below-mentioned Commodity Lists A and B, export licenses are required, irrespective of the country of destination.
List A of the Danish export regulations consists of items of strategic significance. For most of these items the licensing authority is the Board of Supply, but the Ministry of Justice controls exports of arms, munitions, and military equipment, and machinery for the production thereof. For the exportation of ships, the Board of Supply must obtain prior approval from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Navigation.
List B consists of nonstrategic goods. Export licenses for these are issued by the Board of Supply, the Board of Health, the Ministry of Public Works or the National Bank of Denmark according to the nature of the commodity concerned.
Denmark has instituted import certificate-delivery verification procedures.
Exchange Controls
The National Bank of Denmark exercises strict controls over all transactions in foreign exchange. Earnings in foreign currencies must be repatriated and sold to the bank unless special exceptions are made.
Transit Controls
The export controls apply to merchandise exported from the Copenhagen free port, including exports from transit or bonded warehouses and goods from free port or private warehouses. They also apply to goods in transit through Denmark, unless these are transiting on a through bill of lading and there is no change in the ultimate destination. They thus effectively prevent unauthorized diversion of goods in transit through Denmark.
All transit transactions financed by Denmark are subject to control by the national bank, regardless of whether the goods in question actually pass through Denmark or are forwarded directly between the countries of origin and destination. In its administration of these provisions the bank observes the same rules as the export control authorities with which the bank cooperates closely in this field.
Shipping Controls
An arrangement has been made by the Danish Government with Danish shipping companies to prevent the carrying in Danish vessels of strategic goods to Communist China and North Korea. This arrangement is implemented through a licensing system operated under a voluntary agreement with Danish shipowners.
EGYPT
License Requirements
Foreign trade and foreign exchange in Egypt are under official control. These controls were primarily designed to conserve foreign exchange but since the spring of 1951 they have been expanded to prevent the export of short supply items.
Except for books, magazines and newspapers, import licenses are required for all imports. Prior to October 6, 1952, licenses were required for goods originating in hard-currency countries, while imports from other sources were in the most part exempt from restrictions.
Application for imports are submitted to the Controller General of Imports, Ministry of Finance. Exports are subject to export regulations which are divided into three main categories: (a) goods that may not be exported; (b) goods that can be exported freely, through the Customs, without the need of an export license, and (c) goods that should be covered by a license. The Import and Export Committee is the main authority entrusted with the formulation of decisions governing exports and imports. This Committee is under the Secretaries for Finance, Commerce and Industry, Supplies, Agriculture, War, the Director General of Exchange Control, the Director General of Cotton Affairs of the Ministry of Finance, the Controllers General of Exports and Imports, and the Director General of Customs.
Transit Controls
There are no special licensing requirements or controls on goods in transit other than the ordinary customs supervision.
Financial Controls
Foreign exchange is under official control. The basic regulation requires all foreign exchange earnings to be repatriated to Egypt within 6 months after the shipping date of the goods. The law requires that all dollar holdings or payments received by Egyptian nationals or foreigners residing in Egypt be reported to the Egyptian Government and converted into Egyptian currency at the official rate unless they are the proceeds of cotton yarn and cloth or raw cotton exports in which cases 100 percent or 75 percent, respectively, of the dollars may be retained for up to 210 days in an "import entitlement" account usable to buy certain listed essential and semiessential commodities.
FRANCE
License Requirements
Export licenses are required for over one-half the commodities identified in the French tariff nomenclature. Governmental authority of this control is contained in various decrees, the latest dated November 30, 1944. These decrees also permit addition to or removal from the list of controlled commodities merely by publication of a notice in the _Journal Officiel_. The most recent list of these commodities, published as a codification of all previous lists, appeared in _Journal Officiel_ No. 156 of July 5, 1953.
Applications for license to export, as submitted by French exporters, are examined by the Ministry of Industry and Energy, by the Office des Changes (where monetary and financial factors are given consideration), and on occasion by appropriate technical committees and personnel in other agencies. At the time the application for export license is submitted, the exporter may be instructed by the Ministry of Industry and Energy to submit a sample, photograph, blueprint, drawing, or other detailed description of the commodity in question. These data are used in determining the advisability of issuing the export license requested. At the port of exit, random samples of actual exports are extracted by customs officials and these are compared by competent technicians with the original data submitted with the license application. This procedure is designed to assure in as many instances as practical that the commodity exported is identical with the commodity for which the export license is issued.
In the event fraudulent action on the part of the exporter is found and can be legally established, the exporter is subject to confiscation of the goods in question and fines ranging upward to four times the value of the shipment plus penal servitude. The control system in operation in France makes it possible to block or encourage exports to any destination of commodities requiring export licenses.
Financial Controls
All transactions in foreign exchange engaged in by French residents, particularly those in which a French resident takes title to foreign merchandise, require the prior authorization of the French Government.
An "exchange commitment" (guaranteeing the return to the Government of the exchange proceeds of a transaction) is required for all exports and reexports of merchandise to which a French resident holds title. Where the products concerned are subject to export license, the export license suffices for the exchange commitment.
Shipping Controls
In order to avoid the transport on French vessels of strategic commodities to Communist China, the French Government has reached agreement with the only French shipping firm operating on the China run that the latter will not transport commodities of any description to Communist China unless these are covered by export license or permit indicating Communist China as the destination and issued by the French Government or a friendly foreign government maintaining the same level of controls as concerns strategic items to China as is maintained in France.
The French Government has also instituted controls to deny bunkering facilities to vessels transporting strategic commodities to Communist China.
GERMANY (FEDERAL REPUBLIC) AND WESTERN BERLIN
License Requirements
No commodity can be exported from the Federal Republic of Germany or Western Berlin unless it is covered by an export-control document, which is issued by the interior customs authorities. However, certain types of exports require a special export-control document which is granted by the interior customs authorities only after a certificate of approval has been obtained, as appropriate from the Central Export Control Office of the Federal Government or the Central Licensing Agency of the Berlin Senate. A certificate of approval is required for all exports (regardless of commodity) to the Soviet bloc, Hong Kong or Macao, and for the export of all commodities in excess of DM 500 on the "restricted list," published by the Federal Government, to all other countries. This list, which corresponds to the United States "positive list," comprises commodities under control for security and short-supply reasons and includes all items covered by title I and title II of the Battle Act.
Exports to numerous western countries, including peripheral countries, are subject to one form or another of end-use checks. The import certificate-delivery verification procedures have been in operation since July 1951.
In conjunction with the issuance of either the export-control document or the special export-control document, the interior customs authorities observe a definite procedure for physical inspection of commodities being exported. Additional control over commodities being exported from the Federal Republic is exercised by the border customs authorities.
Transit Controls
Certain items are prohibited for intransit shipments on grounds of health and sanitation, but the number of items so prohibited is very small and the prohibited list has not been changed since 1939. German customs officials may inspect transit shipments at the border and remove any items prohibited under German law. They then seal the containers of all other goods and such goods are permitted to proceed, in accordance with international agreement on transit traffic, without further inspection or restriction, except to insure at the exit border that the original customs seals remained unbroken.
Intransit shipments arriving in the Freeport of Hamburg are subject to a customs documentary and physical check before being allowed to enter the Freeport. When in the Freeport, such shipments are under the control of the Freeport authorities, and may be loaded, unloaded, or reloaded only with their approval. The destination of intransit shipments arriving in the Freeport of Hamburg traveling under a "through bill of lading" can only be changed upon instructions of the original shipper, while the destination of intransit goods traveling under an "ordinary bill of lading" can be determined by the responsible local forwarding agent.
Intransit shipments consigned to West German firms and remaining in the Freeport of Hamburg for shipment to a consignee outside Western Germany, require an intransit trade permit (Transit Handelsgenehmigung), except when the goods are returned to country of origin. Such intransit trade permits are issued by the State Central Banks after careful scrutiny of the West German firm and in accordance with the same regulations applying to shipments of West German origin, and approval by the West German Central Export Control Office. West German firms must be listed in the official trade register in order to qualify for an intransit trade permit.
The identical procedure is enforced in the Freeports of Bremen and Bremerhaven, with the exception that the functions within the Freeport are carried out by Federal Customs Authorities rather than Freeport Authorities. This procedure also applies to Cuxhaven, Emden, and Kiel, which are Freeports of very minor importance.
Financial Control
All financial transactions between residents of Western Germany and Western Berlin and residents of other areas are subject to either general or specific exchange-control authorizations issued by the foreign-trade banks. Before those permits are granted, the transactions in question are not only screened with respect to currency problems but also in regard to the strategic nature of the goods. The latter screening is done by export control officials, who have the power to prevent the transaction.
GREECE
License Requirements
Export licenses are required for all strategic commodities, all minerals, and for certain nonstrategic commodities for which export quotas have been established. For nonstrategic shipments, licenses are issued by the Bank of Greece in accordance with directives from the Greek Foreign Trade Administration, Ministry of Commerce. For strategic shipments, including those to the Soviet bloc countries, licenses must be obtained from the FTA. Such FTA licenses are limited to items and quantities contemplated by trade agreements or approved private barter arrangements.
Transit Shipments
A transit shipment whose final destination is not indicated on the manifest or shipping documents must be licensed by the FTA prior to being reexported. If the destination be indicated, no export license is required.
Financial Controls
Foreign exchange proceeds must be surrendered to the Bank of Greece.
Shipping Controls
Effective March 17, 1953, the Greek Government prohibited Greek flag vessels from calling at Communist ports in China and North Korea. This was accomplished by the Greek Council of Ministers Act No. 204 of March 17, which was enacted into law by the Greek Parliament on May 7. Violators are punishable under the provisions of law No. 2317 of 1953, published in Greek Government Gazette No. 61, dated March 17.
The Greek foreign investment law provides that foreign vessels transferred to the Greek flag may only be resold to countries named in the "letter of approval". This listing has not included Soviet bloc countries. With only minor exceptions, ships already under the Greek flag may not be resold to other countries.
Current bunkering controls require licensing both by the Bank of Greece and the customs authorities. Ship repair controls require licensing by the customs authorities. In neither case is the licensing control based on the nationality of the vessel to be serviced nor, in the latter case, the type of materials used for repair or installed.
HONG KONG
While there has been no appreciable change in the already extensive security controls maintained by the Hong Kong Government on exports to Communist China and the Soviet bloc, there were changes in the laws and legal processes under which these controls are enforced. The Emergency (Importation and Exportation Ordinance) (amendment) Regulations, 1953, were promulgated July 10, 1953, in order to prevent evasions of export and import controls. Eighteen modifications were made by these Emergency Regulations. Among them were:
1. It was made an offence to transfer an export permit with intent to deceive or to allow any other person to use a permit with intent to deceive.
2. As court decisions in smuggling cases had thrown doubt on the legality of searches and seizures carried out by the Royal Navy in enforcing export regulations, an amendment in these Regulations specifically authorizes "any commissioned officer of H. M. Armed Forces" to carry out such duties.
3. "Any vessel not exceeding 250 gross tons and any vehicle which is made use of in the importation and exportation or attempted importation or exportation of any article contrary to the provisions of this Ordinance or any regulation made thereunder shall be liable to forfeiture whether or not any person is convicted of any offence." This article was added to discourage truck owners and particularly, junk masters, from agreeing to the use of their property for carriage of smuggled goods, even though the main purpose of their trip is quite legal. Thus, whether a conviction is obtained or not, the truck or junk is liable to forfeiture.
Several other changes have also been made which were designed to protect the rights of persons tried under the basic Ordinance by bringing the Ordinance into line with usual British judicial practice.
During the past 6 months Hong Kong has added a number of items to its prohibited export list and struck off a number. All of these actions were taken in conformity with the decisions of the United Kingdom Board of Trade.