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Export compliance

Some of what we license is controlled technology. This page explains what that means in practice for a customer, so the requirement does not arrive as a surprise late in a procurement cycle.

Draft pending legal review. This page describes our intended policy. Binding terms are those in the executed licence agreement. If you have a specific compliance question, contact compliance@alfacores.com rather than relying on this summary.

Why this applies to IP

Export control regimes cover technology and technical data, not only physical goods. Source code, specifications and design documentation for certain communications and radar functions fall within controlled categories in several jurisdictions. Sending a file across a border, or granting a foreign national access to a repository, can constitute an export.

Which cores are affected

Control status depends on the core, its configuration, the destination and the end use — the same core may be controlled in one configuration and not in another. As a general guide:

  • Space and telemetry link cores — assume control may apply. ALF-RF-CCSDS and ALF-RF-CPM are controlled in some configurations and for some destinations.
  • Cores configured for a defence programme — the same part in a military configuration, or with a waveform supplied by you, is assessed separately from its commercial configuration.
  • Commercial standards cores — DVB, 3GPP, IEEE 802.11 and Bluetooth implementations are generally not controlled, but destination screening still applies.

What we require before releasing material

  1. Party screening. We screen the licensee and, where relevant, the end user and intermediate consignees against the applicable restricted party lists.
  2. End-user statement. For controlled cores, a signed statement identifying the end user, the end use and the country of ultimate destination.
  3. Export licence, where required. If the transfer needs a government authorisation, we apply for it. Timescales are set by the issuing authority and are outside our control — several weeks is common, and longer is not unusual.
  4. Controlled delivery. Controlled material is delivered through an access-controlled channel with recipient-level logging, never by ordinary email attachment.

What we ask of customers

  • Tell us the destination country and intended end use in your first message.
  • Do not re-export or transfer the material without checking the licence terms first.
  • Tell us if the end use or end user changes after delivery — a change can alter the control position and may require a new authorisation.
  • Apply access control on your side; a licence to your company is not a licence to publish.

What we will not do

We decline transactions where the end use is unclear, where screening raises an unresolved flag, or where we assess a meaningful diversion risk — regardless of whether a licence could technically be obtained. We also decline transactions structured to route material through an intermediate country in order to change its control position.

We would rather lose an order than a licence to trade, and we would rather say this plainly than discover a disagreement about it halfway through a negotiation.

Contact

Compliance questions, screening enquiries and licence status requests: compliance@alfacores.com. Please include the part numbers, destination country and end use.