The United Kingdom has revealed its overall licensing statistics for 2020, with the total value of Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs) for permanent export to military users declining during the year.
A total of 11,974 SIELs were issued during 2020, 10,067 of which were for permanent exports and 1,344 for incorporation. According to the Department for International Trade (DIT) SIELs are termed as “specific to an individual exporter and generally allow shipments of specified items to a specified consignee up to the quantity specified by the licence”.
Permanent SIELs for military end-users were valued at GBP3.5 billion (USD4.87 billion) in 2020, down from 2019’s GBP4.14 billion, but an increase on 2018’s GBP2.06 billion. Saudi Arabia was the greatest recipient of licences in this category, with GBP1.47 billion in approvals in 2020, mostly for equipment in the UK Military Lists’ ML4 category which covers bombs, torpedoes, rockets, and missiles.
Permanent SIEL licence approvals were down in 2020 to GBP3.5 billion. (UK Department for International Trade/Janes)
SIEL licences for incorporation or integration onto other military platforms and systems increased to GBP968.9 million in 2020, up from GBP727.9 million in 2019. The United States was the lead recipient of these licences in 2020, with GBP399.4 million worth. This was followed by Sweden at GBP196.6 million, primarily for aircraft components and subsystems, and Italy at GBP88 million.
Two SIEL incorporation licences were revoked during the year. These were for components for military combat vehicles to be integrated in South Africa and Spain for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A SIEL incorporation licence application from Turkey for military communications equipment that was being integrated for Azerbaijan was also refused during the year. Permanent SIELs for military vehicle components for Jordan and the UAE were also revoked during the year.
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