Dualis Defence Trade Compliance

Trade compliance · Defence · Dual-use · Sanctions

Dual-use, defence and sanctions. One clear answer, one fixed price.

We classify your products, screen your counterparties, get your licences and leave you the procedures to do it again, across UK, EU and US rules at once.

Book a free 30-minute call Take the free assessment
UK Strategic Export Control ListsEU 2021/821US EAR / ITAR / OFACHow the three fit together →

Who we work with

The company with no compliance team, and the one whose team is full.

Small and mid-sized exporters

You ship controlled goods and cannot justify a full-time trade compliance manager.

A customer or a defence prime has asked for a classification, a licence or a compliance owner. We become that function, at a fixed price.

Large companies and groups

You have a compliance function. It is not sized for this project, this market or this acquisition.

A new product line, a market, an acquisition. We work alongside your team on a scoped, time-boxed engagement, then hand over.

Aerospace & defenceDrones & roboticsElectronics & semiconductorsTelecoms & encryptionSoftware & cybersecurityIndustrial equipmentChemicalsPharmaceuticalsBanks & trade finance

Services

Six services, covering every step of an export.

Every engagement starts with a free 30-minute call and a fixed price agreed in writing.

Classification Is your product, software or technology controlled, and under which entry? One item or a whole catalogue of thousands of part numbers, against the EU, UK and US lists. You getA written classification for each item, with the reasoning, that you can file and show to customers or customs. For a catalogue, a register your ERP can load, kept up to date when the lists change. Details → Screening Sanctions and end-use screening: goods, destinations, customers, intermediaries, banks and payments checked against UK, EU, US and UN sanctions lists and measures, including ownership by listed persons and diversion through third countries. You getOne answer on whether the transaction can go ahead under every sanctions regime that applies, and a file that shows how you decided. Details → Export licences The authorisation that already covers you, or the licence you need, in the UK, Belgium, the EU and the US. You getThe application prepared and followed through to decision, then a register of your licences and their conditions. Details → Records, reporting & audit Records that prove every export was compliant, the filings each authority requires, and preparation for an audit. You getA record standard, a reporting calendar and a mock audit before the authority arrives. Details → Procedures Your written export control procedures and internal compliance programme: policy, manual, procedures, templates and training, drafted for your business so the checks happen on every order. You getA programme ready for management sign-off, implemented with your teams and reviewed every year. Details → Training Export control and sanctions training for the people who make the decisions: sales, logistics, engineering, finance and management, each at the right level. You getSessions built on your own products, customers and procedures, with a record of who was trained and when, ready for an audit. Details →
UKExport Control Order 2008 · Strategic Export Control Lists · SIELs, OGELs, OIELs via the ECJU
EURegulation 2021/821 · Annex I · Article 4 catch-all · EU GEAs · sanctions regulations
USEAR & Commerce Control List · ITAR & USML · OFAC · de minimis and foreign direct product rules

How it works

Send us the item. We send back a position you can ship on.

Product, destination and customer in. Classification, screening result and licence decision out.

Your shipmentIN
ItemInertial measurement unit
DestinationTürkiye
CustomerCivil avionics integrator
Your guess"Probably fine?"
DualisChecking…
ClassifyUK list · EU Annex I · US CCL—
ScreenSanctions lists · end use · diversion—
LicenceWhich one, or none—
Your positionOUT
Control—
Parties—
Licence—
APPLICATION PACK READY

Use cases

Where exporters get caught out.

CNC machining centre cutting a metal part

Spare parts · OEM

The spare part that becomes dual-use once it is fitted.

Situation. An equipment maker ships spare parts worldwide. None are on a control list. One customer's machine is; another sits in a military plant.

Online check says. "Not listed." It cannot see the machine the part goes into.

We do. Review the catalogue against the installed base, flag the SKUs caught by end-use rules for specific customers, and give sales a one-page rule.

Container ship being loaded under port cranes

Distributors · Sanctions

The distributor in a third country whose customers you do not know.

Situation. An electronics exporter sells 3A001 items through distributors in Türkiye, the UAE and Kazakhstan. Orders have jumped since 2022.

Online check says. Clear. The distributor is on no list.

We do. Look at the red flags a list cannot: volumes, unnamed end users, payment routes, items found in Russian weapons. A decision, and a file that shows you made it.

Circuit board under inspection

Engineering · Technology

The drawing sent by email is an export too.

Situation. An aerospace supplier shares 3D models and test data with a partner abroad through a cloud folder, and hosts visiting engineers from outside the EU.

Online check says. Nothing. Screening tools check shipments, not emails, file shares or meetings.

We do. Classify the technology, map who can access it and from where, put the right authorisation in place for each transfer, and give engineering a simple checklist for sharing files.

Network switch with patched cables

Software · Cybersecurity

The security product that is "mass market" until you look closer.

Situation. A software company sells a network security appliance with VPN encryption and a penetration-testing module, to telecom operators and government agencies inside and outside Europe.

Online check says. "Mass-market encryption, no licence needed." It does not look at the testing features, or at who the customer is.

We do. Check whether the mass-market exemption really applies and whether the testing features are controlled as intrusion software, then flag the extra rules for government customers. A written position under EU, UK and US rules.

Why Dualis

Quick, and trusted.

A team, not a queue.Every engagement gets the people it needs: export control and sanctions lawyers, customs specialists, engineers for the technical questions. You get a named lead and a written answer you can file.
UK, EU and US together.Every regime that applies to a transaction, at the same time, including US rules that follow US-origin content around the world.
Export controls and sanctions in one place.The same product, customer and route have to pass both. We check both, so you get one answer rather than two partial ones.
Fast, with a fixed price.A classification within a week in most cases. Scope and price agreed before we start, so there are no hourly surprises.
A Black Hawk helicopter carrying a water bucket over a wildfire
UH-60 Black Hawk on wildfire duty. US Department of Defense photo, public domain.

We have been the exporter

We have been the exporter.

Alongside the compliance work, we trade US-origin military equipment, including Black Hawk helicopters, into Europe for wildfire and civil-protection use. ITAR, third-party transfer approvals and end-use undertakings, from the exporter's side of the table. That is why the advice is practical.

Working with us

Fixed scope, quoted before we start.

No hourly billing and no surprises. Every engagement is scoped and priced in writing after a free first call.

  1. Free 30-minute callTell us the product, destination and customer. We tell you whether it needs work at all.
  2. Written scope and fixed priceWhat we will do, what you will receive, by when, and for how much. Nothing starts before you agree.
  3. The work, then the hand-overA written answer you can file, and the procedures to do it yourself next time.

FAQ

Questions we get on the first call.

Do I actually need a licence?

Often not. A large share of first calls end with "this is not controlled, here is why in writing". We would rather tell you that than sell you a licence application.

Are you a law firm?

No. Our team includes export control and sanctions lawyers, but Dualis is not a law firm. We do the classification, licensing, screening and compliance-programme work that most exporters need. Where a matter calls for regulated legal advice or representation, we bring in trade counsel from our network and tell you so up front.

Where do you work?

From the UK, Belgium, Italy and the US, for exporters based in the UK, EU or US who ship to the rest of the world. That covers the three regimes most controlled goods touch, and we are used to transactions that touch all three at once.

Contact

Start with the item you are not sure about.

Send a product, a destination and a one-line description of the customer. We come back with whether it needs work and what it would cost. First call is free.

UNITED KINGDOM · BELGIUM · ITALY · UNITED STATES

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