The purpose of the Law for the Trade of Strategic Goods is to further Kosovo’s state security and foreign policy interests, fulfill Kosovo’s international nonproliferation commitments, and contribute to international and regional efforts to regulate strategic trade.
The law applies to:
- Any natural or legal person in the territory of Kosovo
- Any citizen of Kosovo who is located abroad
- Any legal person with a registered office, headquarters, or permanent business establishment in Kosovo, foreign subsidiaries, and representative offices
- Any foreign person outside Kosovo, operating on behalf or under control of a Kosovo person
The law applies to trade in strategic goods, including:
- Items on the Kosovo National Military and Dual-Use Control Lists
- Items that, in whole or in part, can be used in the development, production, use, maintenance, stockpiling, detection, identification, or dissemination of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons or other atomic devices or the development, production, maintenance, or storage of their means of delivery
- Any other items due to their end-use or end-user
Trade Activities Regulated under the Law
Persons must seek a license for the export, import, transit, transshipment, and extra-territorial re-export and re-transfer of items on the National Control Lists.
An “export” is:
- Delivery or shipment outside the territory of Kosovo
- Re-export of strategic goods
- Transmission of software or technology through electronic media, including fax, phone, e-mail, or any other electronic device, or in person, with the destination outside Kosovo
- Disclosure or transfer of technical data, whether in person or by fax, phone, e-mail, or any other electronic device, to a foreign person, whether in Kosovo or abroad
An “import” is the entry of strategic goods, or temporary or permanent transfer of technology to the territory of Kosovo, including re-import.
“Transit” is shipment into and subsequent shipment from the territory of Kosovo of a strategic good, with an ultimate destination outside Kosovo, in such a manner that the strategic goods remain at all times in or on the same conveyance.
“Transshipment” is shipment of a strategic good in which a conveyance enters the territory of Kosovo and the strategic good is unloaded from the conveyance and loaded onto the same or another conveyance, which is bound for an ultimate destination outside Kosovo.
“Extra-territorial re-export and re-transfer” are the export to another country or transfer to another person of licensed strategic goods previously exported from Kosovo.
Related Services
Persons also must seek a license for the provision of “related services” under certain circumstances. “Related services” are brokering, transport, financial services, and provision of technical assistance.
What is brokering?
- Negotiations or arrangements of transactions for the purchase, sale, or supply of strategic goods from Kosovo to a foreign country or one foreign country to another.
- The selling or buying of strategic goods located in a foreign country for their transfer to another foreign country.
Brokering involving items on the National Control Lists requires a license from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
What is technical assistance?
- Any technical support related to repair, development, production, assembly, testing, or maintenance of strategic goods.
- Any other technical service in the form of textual or verbal instructions, training, and transfer of business knowledge or skills, or other consulting services.
- The transfer of technical data – blueprints, plans, diagrams, models, formulae, tables, engineering designs and specifications, manuals, instructions (including software), and any other media or devices such as disks, tapes, and read-only memory.
Technical assistance involving items on the National Control Lists requires a license from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Transport and financial services involving items on the National Control Lists require a license only in certain cases:
- Transport – the act of moving strategic goods, agreeing to move them, arranging or otherwise facilitating their movement, or providing supporting services to a transport provider, and any act calculated to promote their supply or delivery, if this contributes to WMD or means of their delivery or to military goods, if destined for an embargoed or sanctioned destination or to a restricted party.
- Financial services – making available or providing funds to facilitate the movement of strategic goods and/or related services, if this contributes to WMD or means of their delivery or to military goods, if destined for an embargoed or sanctioned destination or to a restricted party.
Note that exports, transit, transshipment, and provision of related services involving items that do not appear on the National Control Lists can be subject to licensing based on the end-use or end-user. For more information, please see Guidance on Catch-All Controls.
Key Institutions
The law establishes the Commission for Control of Trade in Strategic Goods. Member institutions are:
- Ministry of Trade and Industry (chair)
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Ministry of Kosovo Security Force
- Ministry of Internal Affairs
- Kosovo Customs
The Commission is responsible for approving the National Control Lists and approving, annulling, modifying, and revoking licenses for trade in strategic goods.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry is the administrative body for the Commission. Within the Ministry, the Department for Control of Trade in Strategic Goods (STGD) supervises the implementation of the licensing system, verifies compliance with the law, and provides information to industry.
Kosovo Customs is responsible for supervising the actual export, import, transit, transshipment, and any other customs procedure related to strategic goods and evaluating the conformity of goods with issued licenses.
Obligations of Persons Subject to the Law
Persons subject to the law may be required to do the following:
- Register as a strategic trader [Note: this should link to Strategic Trader Registration]
- Apply for a license to trade in controlled items [Note: this should link to Strategic Trade Licensing]
- Maintain records of strategic trade transactions [Note: this should link to Industry Compliance with Strategic Trade Control]
- Provide required documentation to the Ministry of Trade and Industry or any other supervisory body, upon request
- Comply with license terms and conditions
- Inform the Ministry of finalized export, import, transit, transshipment, extra-territorial re-export and re-transfer, and provision of related services within 7 days of the finalization of the transaction
- Return used licenses to the Ministry within 7 days of finalizing the transaction
- Return unused licenses to the Ministry within 7 days of license expiration
The law provides for other obligations. Persons subject to the law should be familiar with its requirements.
Please contact the STGD if you have any questions or require additional information.