The UK has set out proposed changes to its strategic export controls, including updates for semiconductor manufacturing equipment and advanced computing, and a transition away from an existing general export authorisation in Great Britain. The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) issued its notice on October 23, giving exporters advance warning of regulations expected to take effect in early December, subject to approval.

The government expects to lay the regulations before Parliament in November 2026. Ministerial and Parliamentary approval are still required, so the announcement does not itself bring the proposed changes into force. The regulations and their explanatory memorandum are to be published later on legislation.gov.uk. The notice gives an expected commencement period, not a confirmed date.

Technology controls await detailed regulations

According to Notice to Exporters 2026/24, the amendments would affect the Export Control Order 2008 and the UK's assimilated Dual-Use Regulation, Council Regulation 428/2009. The planned list changes concern Schedule 2 of the order and Annex I of the dual-use regulation, covering military and dual-use goods, software and technology.

One part would reflect changes agreed during the 2025 reviews of multilateral export-control arrangements, including the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Australia Group. Another covers advanced and emerging technologies. The notice specifically identifies semiconductor manufacturing equipment, advanced computing technologies and specialised materials, placing the proposed updates within the UK's international commitments on national-security export controls.

The advance notice does not reproduce the new control entries or technical thresholds. It therefore does not establish whether a particular machine, component or software product would fall within an amended entry. That detail must come from the regulations and updated lists, rather than from the broad technology categories named in this announcement.

A separate amendment would change country listings in Schedule 4 of the 2008 order to reflect the corresponding UK sanctions regimes. Haiti would move from Part 3 to Part 2, while the Central African Republic would move from Part 2 to Part 3. The notice describes these specific transfers, without setting out the full amended Schedule 4.

Proposed transition for GEA001 users

The government also intends to revoke General Export Authorisation No 001, known as GEA001, from Annex IIa of the assimilated Dual-Use Regulation. The notice says the Dual-Use Open General Export Licence has superseded this authorisation in Great Britain. The proposed revocation would apply there, rather than uniformly across the whole UK.

Exporters registered to use GEA001 when the regulations come into force would be allowed to continue using it until April 1, 2027, if the regulations are made as proposed. That transition is tied to registration at commencement. It is not described as an unrestricted extension for every exporter, and it remains part of the proposed arrangements.

Northern Ireland would retain a different position. EU GEA001 would continue to apply to exports from Northern Ireland under the applicable EU dual-use framework.

The replacement licence itself is not new. ECJU's June 25 announcement described it as a consolidation of the EU member states Dual-Use OGEL and GEA001, with wider destination coverage. It told exporters registered for those earlier authorisations to register for the replacement. The announcement described eligible uses ranging from civilian aerospace components to academic research data, with qualifying shipments avoiding individual licence applications. The new development is the proposed legal revocation and transition timetable, not the launch of another licence.

The current licence guidance, updated on October 20, says users must register through SPIRE before using the licence, identifying where export or transfer records will be kept and where ECJU can inspect them. The June notice also explains that registration supplies a unique licence reference for relevant customs declarations. It gives the format as GBOGE20XX/XXXXX and identifies a field in the Customs Declarations System where that reference can be entered. These are existing administrative steps, separate from the proposed December changes.

Exporters preparing to use the replacement licence also face an existing reporting condition. Its current instrument requires notification for permanent exports of items on the Sensitive and Very Sensitive Lists to specified non-Wassenaar destinations. Schedule 3 specifies the destination, control-entry classification, export date and quantity to be reported.

Related coverage: October expansion of UK export-licence destinations and India-UK trade-agreement monitoring.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This report does not imply government endorsement.