About 19,000 applications for marketing licenses, about 6,000 applications for export licenses and over 9,000 license suspensions following adverse changes in human rights aspects and political stability in various countries.
The Department of Defense Export Supervision in the Ministry of Defense (MoD) is currently summarizing the 2022 year of activity and revealing data on the extent of supervision in the past year.
About 19,000 applications for marketing licenses to about 155 countries and about 6,070 applications for export licenses to about 128 countries were handled by AP during the year 2022. 1,516 exporters are currently registered in the defense export registry. About 10,000 active products are registered in AP.
Over 9,000 marketing licenses, which constitute about 4.5% of all defense marketing licenses registered in AP, were proactively suspended following changes that occurred in the target countries, from considerations of human rights and political stability in the target countries. Professionals in the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs constantly carry out policy and strategic situation assessments and adapt the defense export policy, according to developments and events in the various countries.
161 enforcement incidents were handled in 2022, about 90 audits were carried out in industries and 23 hearings were held for exporters for suspected violations of the provisions of the law. The scope of the fines imposed in 2022 is estimated at about NIS 3 million.
In 2022, AP continued to promote the amendment of the defense marketing license exemption regulations as part of the reform, in order to reduce the regulatory burden on exporters, reduce the burden imposed on AP and allow it to channel resources to the places required for supervision.
AP intends to bring the regulations to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee for approval during 2023. In addition, AP intends to bring to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s approval the cancellation of the cipher order and the replacement of the combat equipment order with an updated order that refers to Wasnar’s list of armaments and is adapted to the technological changes that have taken place in the security world . In 2022, the online work interfaces with the exporters were also upgraded. This trend will continue in 2023 as well.
The head of AP in the Ministry of Defense, Racheli Chen: “The year 2022 obliged the partners in the work of supervising defense exports, for changes and adjustments in the supervision policy in the face of the changes in the international arena, and sometimes even for the tightening of supervision.
“In 2023, we will continue to put emphasis on maintaining and preventing violations of human rights, in a broad perspective. At the same time, the increasing competition in the defense export markets in the world and the increasing trend in the scope of defense exports, require simplifying and shortening processes and finding the right balance between the need for defense exports and the need for efficient and effective supervision influenced, among other things, by strategic, political and security considerations.”