Announcement of General Approval No. 18 (Clothing and equipment with signature suppression) dated March 26, 2024

I. Preliminary remark on the amendment to General Approval No. 18

General Approval No. 18 dated July 28, 2023, which entered into force on September 1, 2023

entered into force on September 1, 2023, is being reissued with effect from April 1, 2024.

Compared to the previous version of General License No. 18, the following changes

the following changes:

In section II number 3.2, the 2nd indent is added, according to which the General

General License does not apply if an offence of negligent, reckless or intentional

intentional commission of criminal offenses pursuant to Section 20a KrWaffKontrG.

Due to current developments, in Section II, Number 5.4 and

5.5, the countries Gabon, Mali and Niger have been removed from the group of beneficiary

destinations are deleted.

A note has been added stating that re-exports from another country to a country

destination authorized in accordance with Section II, Number 5 are permitted, provided that the

conditions according to number 4 of this General License are met

and there is no reason for exclusion in accordance with No. 3 of this General License

exists. In these cases, no prior approval by BAFA is required.

Otherwise, a re-export in accordance with the submitted

end-use certificate requires the prior approval of BAFA.

There are no further changes to the content.

General Approval No. 18 is valid until March 31, 2025.

II General authorization

1. title of the general license:

General Approval No. 18 (Clothing and equipment with signature suppression).

2. issuing authority:

Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA), Frankfurter Straße 29-35,

65760 Eschborn.

3 Validity:

3.1 This is a General Export and Transfer License pursuant to § 1

paragraph 2 of the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance (AWV). This license is valid for

exports within the meaning of Section 2 (3) of the Foreign Trade and Payments Act (AWG) and

shipments within the meaning of Section 2 (21) No. 1 AWG by nationals within the meaning of

of § 2 paragraph 15 AWG.

3.2 This General License shall not apply,

 if the goods in question are exported or transferred to a free zone or a free warehouse

or a free warehouse that is located in a destination to which this

destination to which this General License applies, unless the goods are

the goods are only received in the free zone or free warehouse and are demonstrably

and demonstrably forwarded to the consignee in the country of destination 

consignee in the country of destination or

if a re-export from the free zone or free warehouse

is demonstrably controlled in accordance with the export control regulations of the

of the country of destination,

 for goods that are subject to the War Weapons Control Act (KrWaffKontrG) and the

War Weapons List issued for this purpose,

 if an offense has been committed negligently, recklessly or intentionally.

commission of criminal offenses pursuant to §§ 19, 20 or 20a KrWaffKontrG

is present,

 for all other licensing regulations to be observed in individual cases

and prohibitions (e.g. embargo provisions as well as provisions or

or orders concerning the application of restrictive measures to

measures to combat terrorism), which remain unaffected,

 if the exporter or transferor is aware that the final destination of the

the final destination of the goods is a country not listed in Section

II, point 5 of this General License, in particular

is a country listed in Section 74 (1) AWV, or

 if the transferor or exporter has been informed by BAFA that the goods in question

that the goods in question are intended, in whole or in part, for one of the

uses within the meaning of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU)

2021/821 (hereinafter: EU Regulation) or for one of the uses referred to in

within the meaning of Article 5(1) of the EU Regulation are or may be intended

or if the consignor or the exporter is aware that

the goods are intended for the uses referred to in this provision

are intended, or

 if the BAFA has issued a declaration on behalf of the exporter or the

declaration requested by the exporter or transferor, which makes it necessary to authorize the export 

or shipment of the goods specified in this declaration by way of the individual

the individual authorization procedure.

4. authorized goods:

This General License applies to exports and shipments of goods

of sub-item 0017h of Part I Section A of the Export List (Annex AL to the

AWV) as far as military clothing, personal equipment or material for their

material for their manufacture, if these are used for the suppression of

signatures in the near infrared range (650 nm - 2500 nm), coated or

treated or provided with a multi-color camouflage print.

5. authorized destinations:

This General License applies to exports or shipments to

consignees and end-users to any of the following destinations:

To all countries except:

 the countries listed in Section 74 (1) AWV and except

 Afghanistan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso,

China (including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region),

Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Gabon, Yemen, Liberia, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique,

Niger, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan,

United Arab Emirates.

6 Ancillary provisions:

This General License is issued subject to the following conditions:

6.1 If the exporter or transferor intends to utilize this General

to make use of this General Authorization, he must register before the first export or

or shipment, or within 30 days thereafter, register with BAFA as a user.

register as a user. This declaration of registration for the use of this 

General License must be created and submitted electronically using the ELAN-K2 export system.

and submitted electronically. For the use of the ELAN-K2

export system, registration for this system is required in advance.

Access to this system is via a link " ELAN-K2 Export System " on the BAFA website at www.bafa.de/ausfuhr and the keywords

keywords "Application, ELAN-K2 Export".

6.2 Regular reports on the use of this general export license are

authorization is waived. However, the exporter or transferor must, at the

However, at the request of BAFA, the exporter or transferor must submit a detailed product notification and

information on exports and shipments carried out to the extent of the usual

reports (§ 23 AWG).

6.3 The exporter or transferor must ensure the secure storage of all documents

documents that arise in connection with the use of this General License.

authorization. These documents must be kept after the end of the calendar year

year in which the export or shipment took place, for at least three years.

kept for at least three years. Other retention obligations remain unaffected.

Furthermore, the exporter or transferor is obliged to allow the BAFA to

BAFA to inspect the above-mentioned documents on the company's premises.

business premises. If permission is not granted, the right to revoke this authorization

reserved.

6.4 BAFA may revoke this General License in whole or in part if the

revoke this General License in whole or in part if the protective purposes specified in § 4 (1) and (2) AWG

in particular in the event of violations of foreign trade regulations

regulations and provisions of this General License. The

revocation will be announced on the BAFA website. This also applies to

the subsequent inclusion, amendment or supplementation of an

ancillary provision.

This General License may also be revoked in respect of individual exporters or

exporters or shippers insofar as the protective purposes specified in § 4 paragraphs 1, 2 AWG 

require this in individual cases, in particular in the event of

violations of the export regulations including the provisions

of this General License.

Furthermore, the General License may be revoked in respect of

individual exporters or shippers may also be revoked if they do not provide

sufficient guarantee of compliance with the relevant export control

export control regulations and the requirements and ancillary

ancillary provisions of this General License. The principles

on the reliability of exporters (§ 8 paragraph 2 sentence 1 AWG) apply accordingly.

accordingly.

6.5 The right to subsequently include, amend or supplement an

subsidiary provision remains reserved.

6.6 This General License shall enter into force on 1 April 2024 and shall be valid for a limited period until 31 March 2025.

The previous version of General Approval No. 18 shall take effect as of March 31, 2025.

No. 18 expires with effect from April 1, 2024.

Notes on the use of General License No. 18:

Onward deliveries are only permitted in accordance with numbers 3 and 4 of this General

only permitted if they are made to a destination that is a beneficiary in accordance with number 5 of this

of this General License.

In the electronic export declaration, the exporter must indicate in the item data

as a supporting document or as part of the default concept in box 44 of the Single Administrative Document

the authorization code 3LLC/A18.

Customs depreciation is not required.

Note on the requirement to obtain consent for intended re-exports

re-exports:

Re-exports from another country to a destination authorized in accordance with Section II, Number 5

are permitted, provided that the requirements in accordance with

4 of this General License are met and no reason for

grounds for exclusion in accordance with number 3 of this General License. In

these cases, no prior approval by BAFA is required.

Otherwise, a re-export in accordance with the submitted

end-use certificate requires the prior approval of BAFA.

Other information:

General License No. 18 is hereby revoked in accordance with Section 41 (3) sentence 2 in

in conjunction with Section 41 (4) of the Administrative Procedure Act (VwVfG)

publicly announced.

The General License and information on legal remedies can be obtained in accordance with

§ 41 (4) sentence 2 VwVfG at the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control

(BAFA), Frankfurter Straße 29-35, 65760 Eschborn, during normal office hours.

office hours.

Information and templates for the registration procedure can also be found on the BAFA website

BAFA website and in the information sheet on general licenses

(www.bafa.de/agg).

Further information on the general license can be obtained from BAFA, Division 211,

on the registration procedure, Division 216, by telephone on 06196 908-0 or

by fax no. 06196 908-1916.

Right of appeal

An appeal against this General License may be lodged within one month of its

the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control, Eschborn/Ts,

within one month of its announcement.

Eschborn, March 26, 2024

Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA)

By order of

Pietsch