Sharing information with external collaborators

You must take the following steps before sharing information with collaborators.

Determine whether you need a licence

If any aspects of the project are considered controlled, fill in and submit an Export Controls Compliance request (online form) with the Regulatory Compliance Team
You must not share any controlled information with external collaborators until you’ve received clearance (confirmation that a licence isn’t required or that a licence has been granted) from the team
If you work with controlled data, but all your collaborators and funders are in the UK, you do not need to apply for a licence to cover the work with controlled data or its publication
If you’re not working with a key country, your application should take around 60 working days for the Export Control Joint Unit to process
If you already have an export control licence in place for your project and any exchange of data with external collaborators/funders, you can only share information on the basis of the terms outlined in your licence application (e.g., electronic, face to face)

If you’ve determined that no aspect of your project is controlled, but an organisation you’re working with is based in a key country, fill in and submit an Export Controls Compliance request (online form) with the Regulatory Compliance Team
You must not share any information with external collaborators until you’ve received clearance from the team except for exploratory discussions
If you’ve determined that no aspect of your project is controlled, and you’re not working with anyone based in a key country, you can initiate contact and share information with them
It is your responsibility to self-assess the project, and a project-assessment should be undertaken annually and whenever any aspect of the project changes
You should gather basic information about the structure of any collaborating organisation — including whether it is owned by or part of a wider corporate group/parent company and where applicable the location of the collaborators Headquarters e.g., if you are working with a European entity does it have a Headquarters in a key country. This applies regardless of where the organisation you are directly working with itself is based. Any connections to corporate groups/parent companies or controlling entities based in key countries must be flagged to the Regulatory Compliance Team, who will carry out the necessary checks