The Georgian Frame of Export Compliance
In international practice, an "export compliance programme" means a company's internal system that secures conformity with export regulations. Georgian law does not impose such a programme by a general statutory requirement — unlike the European and American regimes, there is no statutory concept of an internal compliance programme here. What does exist is something more operative: specific statutory duties that perform the same function and whose performance is mandatory for every permit holder — the register and its retention, the information duties, the permit conditions and the suspicion-checking rule. These four pillars are the Georgian frame that an exporter's internal system must satisfy; everything else — the design of procedures, staff training, document flow — is the flesh on that frame.
The Register and Its Retention
A permit holder is obliged, in accordance with the Law on Licences and Permits, to keep a register of the licensed activity, and that register is kept for six years. The period is counted from the end of the calendar year in which the permit's validity expires — a detail frequently overlooked: the six years run not from expiry itself but from the end of the year of expiry. Primary accounting documents must be kept for not less than that period, even where the applicable legislation establishes a shorter term — the export-control requirement thus overrides the general accounting retention periods. The register and its related documentation are precisely the base without which a company can neither pass control nor defend its own position.
Information Duties, Conditions and the Suspicion Check
Permit issuers are authorised, for control purposes, to demand from a permit holder information or documents connected with the licensed activity, and the holder submits them within a reasonable time; information obtained about a seeker or holder in the control process is used only for the purposes of the law. The permit-conditions block is the heart of the programme: notification of changes in the documents submitted, the creation of an internal control system, the permanent maintenance of an information base, and the facilitation of control measures — these four obligations are exactly the functions that in other systems are discharged by an internal programme. Finally, the most technically delicate norm: even dual-use products not included in the control lists may require a permit, where the issuer has informed the exporter, on a reasonable supposition, of the possibility of use connected with weapons of mass destruction or military purposes — including under an embargo regime — or where that is known to the exporter. This means a compliance programme does not end with checking the lists: it must also manage the reasonable supposition about the buyer, the destination and the use, and the end-user certificate — the document confirming the purpose and the consumer — is the central instrument of that system. Liability for breach arises in the manner established by law, and a violation of the permit regime crosses administrative and criminal boundaries as well.
How the Programme Is Assembled on the Four Pillars
In practical terms, an export compliance system is assembled on these four pillars. The first pillar — the activity register — is not merely mandatory but must be built in a format that remains readable after the six-year retention: each permit, each transaction and each corresponding accounting document must be traceably linked. The second pillar — the information duties — must be ready before the regulator asks: answering within a reasonable time is possible only if the information has been collected systematically from the start. The third pillar — the internal control system and the information base — is precisely where the company's procedures meet the language of the law: who checks the lists, who decides, who records. The fourth pillar — the management of reasonable supposition — is the most dynamic: it requires an assessment of the buyer, the destination and the use in every transaction, and it is here that the end-user certificate — the document confirming the purpose and the consumer — operates as the central instrument. The four pillars working together are what other systems call a "programme"; in Georgian reality it is the unified administration of duties established by law.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below we answer the most common questions about export compliance.
How long is the licensed-activity register kept?
For six years, counted from the end of the calendar year in which the permit expired; primary accounting documents are kept for not less than the same period.
Can information be demanded for control?
Yes — issuers may demand information or documents connected with the licensed activity, to be submitted within a reasonable time.
What do the permit conditions include?
Notification of changes, an internal control system, a permanently maintained information base, and facilitation of control measures.
Can a product outside the lists still need a permit?
Yes — dual-use products where the issuer warned the exporter on a reasonable supposition, or the exporter knows or suspects the prohibited use.
How We Help on Legal.ge
Building an export compliance system on the Georgian frame — the register, the information duties and the management of reasonable supposition — requires knowledge both of the law and of the company's processes. On Legal.ge you can consult an experienced export-control lawyer who will help you assemble the compliance frame and manage relations with the regulator. Fill in the request form on the site and receive qualified assistance.