What the export control permit regime covers
Operations related to export control in Georgia are governed by the Georgian Law on Licences and Permits. The list of permits in Article 24 of that law devotes a separate block to dual-use products: it provides for a permit for the import of dual-use products, a permit for their export, a permit for their transit, as well as a permit for brokering services in relation to dual-use products and a permit for technical assistance in relation to dual-use products. This structure means that each type of operation — import, export, transit, brokerage and technical assistance — requires its own permit, and one document does not substitute for another.
A distinction must also be drawn between permits and general licences: operations on dual-use products are carried out under permits, whereas activities related to military products are carried out under general licences. Both instruments sit in the same law, but their legal nature and issuing authority differ, and confusing them is one of the most common practical errors in this field.
General licences for military products and the issuing authority
Under Article 9(1) of the law, the manufacture and production of military products, the repair of military products (including modernization and on-site service), and trade in military products are carried out by a legal person or individual entrepreneur holding the right to conduct such activity, on the basis of the respective general licence. These general licences — those defined by items 10(1)-10(3) of Article 6 of the law — are issued by the Ministry of Defence of Georgia on the basis of a recommendation of the Ministry's standing military-technical commission. The recommendation is an indispensable legal basis: without it, an application cannot succeed in advance.
Documentation for the general licence application
To obtain a general licence, the seeker must submit, together with the general documentation defined by the law: data on registration in the register of entrepreneurs and non-commercial (non-profit) legal persons; the list of persons who have direct contact with military products — indicating name, surname, date of birth, profession, workplace, identity card number and place of residence, accompanied by certificates on criminal record/deprivation of rights, on conviction for the crime provided by the Law on Weapons, on the absence of registration with a narcological facility, and on mental condition; the list of buildings and structures, with addresses, in which the activity is to be carried out; a document confirming compliance with fire safety norms in the respective building; a document confirming the provision of compliance with technical safety norms of the building; a document confirming proper protection and security of the building; and the recommendation of the standing military-technical commission.
The law also identifies the issuing bodies for these documents: the fire safety document is issued by the respective divisions of the Emergency Management Service — a state sub-agency within the purview of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; the technical safety norms and the authorized person issuing the compliance document are determined by the technical regulation provided by the Law on Weapons; and the protection document is issued by the subject (service) holding the authority to protect the respective building. For the applicant this means collecting documents sequentially, from different authorities.