China’s Commerce Ministry proposed on 13 October to let drone makers take export-controlled drones abroad for trade shows on a registration certificate instead of a full licence. Comments close on 13 November.
The drone clause comes at the end of a longer draft on dual-use parts for civil aviation. It covers “controlled drones”, the ones on China’s dual-use export control list, and only makers and exporters that have already applied for and used export licences.
Three cases
The certificate would cover three kinds of trip. A drone can go abroad for an exhibition or demonstration and come back. An exported drone can be serviced and returned to its original end user. And a Chinese rescue team can carry controlled drones to an international disaster, with the approval of the Ministry of Emergency Management.
An exporter would register each shipment online with its destination, end user, quantity and serial numbers, and receive a certificate on the spot. It is good for one shipment and 60 days. Anything the system refuses goes back to the ordinary licence route.
Where it stops
A certificate is void from the start if the end user is military or the end use is military. The same applies if the ministry sees a risk to national security or of use in weapons of mass destruction. The ministry can revoke a certificate if it finds such a risk, and the exporter must stop shipping while the ministry asks questions.
The draft does not mention the United States. Since 5 August, under the ministry’s Announcement No. 34, controlled drones, their key parts and related technology bound for the US are reviewed strictly, case by case, and shut out of any licensing shortcuts. Whether the new certificate counts as one of those shortcuts, the draft does not say.
The draft also leaves its start date blank.
