Ernst & Young’s Export Controls and International Trade (ECIT) Advisory Services Group - Ernst & Young - United Kingdom

Ernst & Young’s Export Controls and International Trade (ECIT) Advisory Services Group is focused on delivering the expertise required to ensure that companies can adopt cost effective and efficient methods of meeting the rigorous demands of the current international trading environment.

Both developing and established businesses seeking to compete internationally have struggled in recent years to come to terms with restrictions that have been imposed by governments to prevent goods and technology with certain sensitive capabilities reaching the hands of individuals who will use them for a prohibited end use, such as in terrorist or military application or for a WMD programme. These restrictions are known as Export Controls.

Export Control regimes comprise authorisation, licensing, record-keeping and reporting requirements and are targeted towards Military and ‘Dual-Use’ (commercial items whose capability has both a military and civilian application) goods. The export of everyday items can also fall under control if they are intended for a certain end use, such as in a WMD programme. Similar obligations are also present on import, in a number of countries.

Companies are required to know and understand their obligations and to have a compliance framework in place to ensure that those obligations are not breached. Various sanctions can be levied for violations of different country’s regulations including significant monetary and criminal penalties and reputation affecting public censure.

How can Ernst & Young help you manage your compliance and associated costs?
The ECIT Group combines both Industry and Consultancy experience. Our industry know-how enables us quickly to analyse and evaluate our clients’ existing trade compliance procedures, then we work with our clients to tailor our service to streamline the compliance function at a time when cost saving, process efficiency and speed-to-market are the core business drivers. The ECIT Group is integrated into Ernst & Young’s global network of Customs and International Trade practitioners, to ensure that your company has an integrated compliance function across all jurisdictions in which it operates.

Our ‘Solutions, Support and Services’ offering focuses upon providing your company with:

• a solution for your specific business that is designed to work seamlessly with your current process; 
• a strong focus on supporting your business needs and solving the issues in question whilst having an eye towards how efficiently your Export Control compliance procedures work with a view to improvement where possible;
• Services that can be utilised to monitor and increase your ongoing compliance including: facilitating development of compliance programmes, risk reviews and audits, training and professional development and help desk services.

A more efficient and effective compliance function not only provides a safeguard against the future cost of non-compliance. Reviewing compliance programmes can produce faster, more efficient transactions and deliver cost savings.