Changes to the UK Strategic Export Control List Take Effect

The Export Control (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (the “New Regulations”), which will formally enact the proposed changes by amending the Export Control Order 2008 and Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009 (the “Dual-Use Regulation”), come into force on 20 May 2025.

The updates include new controls across several categories of goods, software and technology, as well as increased penalties for non-compliance.

Key Updates to the Consolidated List

The New Regulations make the following changes to the Consolidated List.

• Integrated Circuits: as expected, entry PL9013.a.4 of the Export Control Order 2008 has been replaced by the following (more cut-down and streamlined) control entry:

“Integrated circuits having one or more digital processing units having a ‘Total Processing Performance’ (‘TPP’) of 6,000 or more.”

The Technical Notes accompanying the entry have also been amended, covering some of the same ground as the previous entry (but again more streamlined):

“For the purposes of PL9013.a.4.:

1. ‘Total processing performance’ (‘TPP’) is 2 x ‘MacTOPS’ x ‘bit length of the operation’, aggregated over all processing units on the integrated circuit.
   • ‘MacTOPS’ is the theoretical peak number of Tera (1012) operations per second for multiply-accumulate computation, D=AxB+C).
   • The 2 in the ‘TPP’ formula is based on the industry convention of counting one multiply-accumulate computation, D=AxB+C, as 2 operations for the purpose of datasheets. Therefore, 2 x MacTOPS may correspond to the reported TOPS or FLOPS on a datasheet.
   • ‘Bit length of the operation’ for a multiply-accumulate computation is the largest bit-length of the inputs to the multiply operation.
   • Aggregate the TPPs for each processing unit on the integrated circuit to arrive at a total. ‘TPP’ = TPP1 + TPP2 +… + TPPn (where n is the number of processing units on the integrated circuit).

2. The rate of ‘MacTOPS’ is to be calculated at its maximum value theoretically possible. The rate of ‘MacTOPS’ is assumed to be the highest value the manufacturer claims in a manual or brochure for the integrated circuit. For example, the ‘TPP’ threshold of 6,000 can be met with 750 tera integer operations (or 2 x 375 ‘MacTOPS’) at 8 bits or 300 tera FLOPS (or 2 x 150 ‘MacTOPS’) at 16 bits. If the IC is designed for MAC computation with multiple bit lengths that achieve different ‘TPP’ values, the highest ‘TPP’ value should be evaluated again parameters in PL9013.a.4.

3. For integrated circuits, specified in PL9013.a.4., that provide processing of both sparse and dense matrices, the ‘TPP’ values are the values for processing of dense matrices (e.g., without sparsity).”

While this update is limited to ‘administrative’ amendments to technical parameters, it is of interest as it relates to high-end digital processing integrated circuits, most suitable for AI training. Updating controls on semiconductors and AI-related technologies is reflective of the UK’s (and indeed many other jurisdiction’s) increasing focus on protecting access to emerging technologies.

• Amendments to UK Military List items: the following categories of goods set out in Schedule 2 to the Export Control Order 2008, along with their associated Technical Notes, have received amendments: ML1.a, ML1.b, ML2.a, ML7.h, ML7.i.2.a, ML10.d, ML10.f, ML10.g, ML10.i, ML13.c.3, ML19.a – ML19.c, ML19.f, and ML21.c. These amendments are ‘routine technical updates’ to reflect agreed changes to the Wassenaar Agreement.

• Amendments to Dual-Use List items: the following categories of goods set out in Annex 1 of the Dual-Use Regulation, along with their associated Technical Notes, have been amended: 0B004a, 0B004b, 1A202, 1A225, 1B228, 1C002, 1C005, 2B352, 3A002, 3C005, 5A001, 5E001, 5A002, 6A005, 6A225, 8A001, 8A002, 9A004, 9B, and 9E003. As above, these are ‘routine technical updates’ designed to reflect agreed changes to the Wassenaar Agreement as well as other international regimes such as the Australia Group, Nuclear Suppliers Group, and Missile Technology Control Regime.

Updated Penalties for Non-Compliance

The New Regulations also updated the maximum level of the fines that may be imposed for certain offences (such as exports without a licence) under the Export Control Order 2008 and the Dual-Use Regulation. As a result, the maximum potential penalty has increased from Level 3 on the Standard Scale (£1,000) to Level 4 on the Standard Scale (£2,500) (per each relevant export).

Impact on Businesses

Businesses will need to consider the effect of these amendments on the items they export out of the UK and consider whether the updated control entries will capture any additional items. A strong internal compliance regime is particularly important given the increased penalties for export control violations – a development which is reflective of the ongoing trend of the UK Government taking more robust enforcement actions. To illustrate this, we note that the most recent compound settlement issued in February 2025 by HMRC in relation to unlicensed exports of military goods was in excess of £3m.