International Import Certificates
It is normal practice for a United Kingdom individual or company intending to import controlled goods from another Co-Ordinating Committe (COCOM) member country to apply for an International Import Certificate (IIC) at the request of the licensing authority of the country of export. An IIC constitutes an undertaking by the importer to import the goods into the country of destination, without diversion or transhipment elsewhere, and not to re-export the goods without an export license from the license authority in the country of importation. It is also an assurance from the government of that country that it will control any subsequent export of these goods.
The COCOM is an informal non-treaty organisation established in 1949 to assist in efforts to control the export of goods and technologies of strategic concern to the Warsaw Pact and China. This includes not just weapons and nuclear related goods, but industrial goods capable of use for military purposes, e.g. computers, telecommunications equipment and machine tools.
In addition, the IIC system covers certain third countries with COCOM comparable export control systems, i.e. Austria, Singapore and Switzerland. See below for a list of COCOM member countries.
The intended purpose of the IIC is to reduce the risk of diversion of sensitive strategic goods and technology. Controlled goods for the purpose of issuing a UK IIC are those which are the subject of the Export of Goods (Control) Order (EG(C) 0) 1989 (SI 1989/2376). The requirement for an IIC is sometimes supplemented by the need for a Delivery Verification Certificate issued by HM Revenue & Customs.
Contact Alison Holmes on 01274 230073 or email for further details.
COCOM member countries
- Australia
- Belgium
- Canada
- Denmark
- France
- Federal Republic of Germany
- Greece
- Italy
- Japan
- Luxembourg
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Spain
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United States