Notice to Exporters (Press Notice) - 2 March 2009
Mining company fined for attempted export of military vehicles without a licence
Note: This is a historical press notice which was originally published on the previous Department for Business website. The notice was originally published on 2 March 2009. Since this date the legislation has been amended. For details of all current legislation and guidance you should consult the export control pages on the Businesslink website.
Milestone Trading Ltd was fined £666 and ordered to pay £200 costs and an administration fee of £15 on 18 February 2009 after pleading guilty at the City of London Magistrates Court to the attempted export of military vehicles without an export licence following a successful prosecution by the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO).
In March 2008, Officers of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) identified three military Land Rovers and two military Unimog vehicles which had been presented at Tilbury Docks for export to Sierra Leone.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) confirmed that no licence was in place for the export. The exporter subsequently applied to BERR for an export licence, but the licence was refused under Criterion 1 of the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. Criterion 1 concerns respect for the UK's international commitments - in particular, sanctions decreed by the UN Security Council or the European Union, as well as other international agreements and obligations. Sierra Leone is currently subject to a UN arms embargo.
The vehicles were seized by HMRC and the case was then referred to RCPO, the authority responsible for prosecuting export licensing offences and all HMRC cases in England and Wales.
The exporter, Milestone Trading Ltd, is a subsidiary of Target Resources plc, an alluvial diamond mining and exploration company developing diamond and gold mining assets in Sierra Leone.
The company told HMRC that the vehicles were destined for their prospecting activities in Sierra Leone.
Military vehicles are classed as controlled goods under the UK Military List as defined in Schedule 1 of the Export of Goods, Transfer of Technology and Provision of Technical Assistance Control Order 2003, being an Order made under the Export Control Act 2002.
The case was prosecuted on behalf of HMRC by The Revenue & Customs Prosecution Office (RCPO) which was created by Royal Assent on 07 April 2005. The RCPO is an independent prosecuting authority. It reports directly to the Attorney General and is responsible for prosecuting some of the largest drug and fraud cases in the UK.
Export Control Organisation
Updated: March 2010
