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24-hour hotline : 23 922 922
e-mail address : stc@tid.gov.hk
Ref : TRA CR 1015/17 ( Main text and Annexes C to D updated on 30 April 2025 )
  TL   320                                                              
16 April 2004
 

Strategic Trade Controls Circular No. 13/2004

Import and Export Control on
Explosives, Arms and Ammunition

     This circular sets out the licensing requirements for the import and export of explosives, arms and ammunition. The circular dated 3 November 2000 on the same subject is hereby superceded.

The Legal Basis

2.    Under the Import and Export Ordinance ( Cap. 60, Laws of Hong Kong ) and its subsidiary legislation, i.e. the Import and Export ( Strategic Commodities ) Regulations ( Cap. 60G, Laws of Hong Kong ) ( “the Regulations” ), no person shall import or export any article specified in the Schedules to the said Regulations except under and in accordance with a valid licence issued by the Director-General of Trade and Industry.

3.    Explosives, arms and ammunition normally fall under the Munitions List of Schedule 1 to the Regulations, and are therefore subject to the import and export restrictions laid down in the Import and Export Ordinance. Schedule 2 to the Regulations extends import and export controls on certain goods in transit, including, among others, certain munitions items.

Licensing Procedures

( A ) Application Forms

4.    Licence applications for the import and export of strategic commodities including explosives, arms and ammunition should be made on Import Licence ( Strategic Commodities ) Application Form [ TID 501 ] ( Annex A ) ( fillable pdf format ) and Export Licence ( Strategic Commodities ) Application Form [ TID 502 ] ( Annex B ) ( fillable pdf format ) respectively. These forms are available at the Integrated Customer Service Centre ( “ICSC” ) at Room 1324, 13/F, Trade and Industry Tower, 3 Concorde Road, Kowloon City, Hong Kong, or they can also be downloaded from the Strategic Commodities Control System Website ( “SC Website” ) at https://www.stc.tid.gov.hk. Licence applications and the supporting documents should be submitted to the ICSC. A numbered receipt will be issued for each licence application.
 
5.    Import and export licence applications can also be made electronically. The E-Applications can be made through companies’ E-Accounts on the SC Website ( Note 1 ) or through Trade Single Window ( TSW ) ( Note 2 ). The supporting documents can be uploaded and submitted together with the E-Application.  Alternatively, they can be submitted by fax ( fax no. 2396 3070 ), by email ( email address: stc@tid.gov.hk ) or in person at the ICSC.
 
6.    To submit E-Applications, companies are required to register an E-Account on the SC Website or become “Linked-up” TSW users. 

( B ) Declaration and Supporting Documents

7.    In addition to basic application particulars, the following information/documents will also be required to support a licence application covering explosives, arms and ammunition: 
  1. the name and full address of the ultimate consignee and/or end-user; 
  2. the specific end-use of the goods concerned and whether such end-use is civilian or military; 
  3. supporting documents including – 
    1. technical details of the product under application; 
    2. an end-user statement duly completed by the end-user ( Annex C ( fillable pdf format ) for import for local consumption; Annex D ( fillable pdf format ) for export or re-export to other destinations ).  In case the submitted version is a softcopy, the original end-user statement should be provided to the applicant.  The Trade and Industry Department and/or the Customs and Excise Department and/or other government departments will request the applicant to provide the original copy of the document, and/or contact the end-user for verification if necessary.  Therefore, the applicant must keep the original copy of the document for checking; and/or 
    3. a copy of an export/re-export authorisation issued by the technology originating and/or exporting country/place of the goods, and/or a copy of an International Import Certificate or import authorisation issued by the importing/destination country/place, giving explicit approval to the import/export/re-export concerned.  If the foreign licence is written in languages other than English or Chinese, the foreign licence should be submitted together with a translated version ( either in English or Chinese ). 
Depending on the circumstances of individual case, the following documents will also be required: 
  1. a copy of the valid business registration certificate of the applicant and local end-user; 
  2. if the licence applications cover arms and ammunition which are under the control of the Firearms and Ammunition Ordinance ( Cap. 238, Laws of Hong Kong ), the applicant should attach a full copy of valid licence for possession or dealer's licence issued by the Hong Kong Police Force with its reference number stated clearly on the import/export licence application. The validity of an approved import and export licence of arms and ammunition is subject to a valid licence for possession or dealer's licence issued by the Arms Licensing Section of the Hong Kong Police Force, which is located at 12/F, Arsenal House, Police Headquarters, 1 Arsenal Street, Wanchai, Hong Kong ( Tel. no. 2860 6538; Fax no. 2200 4323 ); 
  3. for licence applications covering explosives, the applicant should attach an authorisation/document issued by the Mines Division of the Civil Engineering Development Department or the Special Effects Licensing Section of the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency approving the explosives to be used, stored and/or transported in Hong Kong. The Mines Division and the Special Effects Licensing Section are situated at 6/F, South Tower, West Kowloon Government Offices, 11 Hoi Ting Road, Kowloon ( Tel. no. 3842 7220; Fax no. 2714 0193; E-mail address: mines@cedd.gov.hk ) and 39/F, Revenue Tower, 5 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong ( Tel. no. 2594 0465; Fax no. 3101 0929; E-mail address: esela@ccidahk.gov.hk) respectively; and/or 
  4. for applications covering arms and ammunition for export or re-export to other destinations, a copy of the licences or documents indicating that the ultimate consignee and/or end-users are authorised possessors or dealers of arms and ammunition in the final destination country/place should be attached. 

The Director-General of Trade and Industry at all times reserves the right to request additional information and further documentary proof to substantiate the licence applications. Applications that are not properly completed or not accompanied by all the necessary documentation will be deferred or rejected.  Blank forms for Annexes A – D can be downloaded from the SC website at http://www.stc.tid.gov.hk/english/download/by_formno.html.

Issuance of Licence

8.    Licence applications are processed by the Strategic Trade Controls Branch of the Trade and Industry Department. Other government departments may be consulted as and when necessary on a case-by-case basis. Approved import and export licences are valid for six months and three months respectively. 
  1. For paper application – Traders can collect the paper licence at the ICSC by presenting the receipt issued to them.  Before collection, applicants are advised to check the application processing status on the SC website ( https://www.stc.tid.gov.hk/english/applytips/how_check.html ). 
  2. For E-Application – Traders can:
    1. obtain and print out the licence (Note 3) online at TSW platform (exclusively provided to “linked-up” users); and/or
    2. collect the paper licence at the ICSC by presenting the receipt printed out from their E-Accounts.
9.    For cases with complications or if additional documents and/or information are necessary, longer time may be required to process the applications.  Applicants are advised to submit their applications well in advance of the shipments.  Applications that are not properly completed or not accompanied by all the necessary documentation may be deferred or rejected.

Licence Conditions

10.    On top of the standard licence conditions, the Director-General of Trade and Industry may, depend on the circumstances of individual cases, impose special and additional conditions on the approved licences. At the time of receiving the licences, applicants are advised to thoroughly read the section of "Licence Conditions", for the standard and special conditions being imposed on that licence.
 
11.    For explosives, arms and ammunition, a common special licence condition is that prior notice to and approval from the Trade and Industry Department are required if there is any change of end-use or end-user, or if the goods are intended for further resale/transfer/disposal.  Only after receipt of Trade and Industry Department’s written approval should the licensee proceed with the resale/transfer/disposal of the goods. Otherwise, the licensee would have breached the above licence condition.
 
12.    Moreover, as most explosives, arms and ammunition are considered to be sensitive items, the Trade and Industry Department may impose the condition upon issuance of the export licence that the exporter must produce a landing certificate or delivery verification certificate issued by the destination country/place in respect of the goods covered by the licence to the Director-General of Trade and Industry within 12 weeks after the date of shipment.

International Import Certificate ( IIC )

13.    Some export licensing authorities may require their traders exporting explosives, arms and ammunition to support their export permit/licence applications with import documents issued by the licensing authorities of the importing country/place. To facilitate Hong Kong traders to meet the above requirement from the export licensing authorities, the Hong Kong importers can apply for an “International Import Certificate (IIC)” from the Trade and Industry Department together with their import licence applications. For details concerning the application procedures and requirements for IIC, please refer to the Strategic Trade Controls Circular No. 7/2022 issued by the Trade and Industry Department.

Articles in Transit

14.    For applications covering goods in transit through Hong Kong (see paragraph 3), in addition to the requirements set out in paragraph 7 above, applicants should:
  1. submit both the import and export licence applications together to the Trade and Industry Department; and
  2. declare on the licence applications that the goods are in transit, state the transport mode, the name of the vessel or flight number, and the expected arrival and departure dates. For E-Applicants, tailor-made declaration for this purpose is available for selection at Part I "Preparation of Declaration Lists" of the E-Import Licence Application menu.
End-use Controls
 
15.    The Regulations also impose licensing requirement on articles specified in Schedule 3 to the Regulations (Annex E refers) (pdf format), or any technical document containing information relating to any such article: 
  1. if the importer/exporter knows that the article or document is intended or likely to be used in any activity related to nuclear, chemical or biological weapons or missiles capable of delivering them as specified in Schedule 4 to the Regulations (Annex F refers) (pdf format); or 
  2. if the importer/exporter has grounds for suspecting that the article or document may be used in any activity specified in Schedule 4.
Reminder

16.    Section 6A of the Import and Export Ordinance stipulates that no person shall import or export any article specified in the Schedules to the Regulations except under and in accordance with a licence issued by the Director-General of Trade and Industry. Any person who contravenes the provision commits an offence and is liable:
  1. on summary conviction to a fine of HK$500,000 and to imprisonment for two years; and
  2. on conviction on indictment to an unlimited fine and to imprisonment for seven years. 
17.    In addition to prosecution, the Trade and Industry Department may impose administrative actions against these persons. Such administrative actions may involve but shall not necessarily be confined to, suspension of a licence, refusal to issue a licence, debarment of all licensing facilities, etc.
 
Enquiry
 
18.    If you have any enquiry concerning licensing requirements for explosives, arms and ammunition, please contact our Assistant Trade Officer at 2398 5670. For matters concerning classification of the goods, please call the Classification Section of Strategic Trade Controls Branch at 2398 5587. Enquiry could also be sent by fax to 2396 3070 or by email to stc@tid.gov.hk.
 

Strategic Trade Controls Branch
Trade and Industry Department


 

Note 1:

 		 Details of E-Accounts can be found on the SC Website:
https://www.stc.tid.gov.hk/english/eaccount/how_open.html.
 
Note 2:

 		 Details of TSW can be found in Strategic Trade Controls Circular No. 2/2024: https://www.stc.tid.gov.hk/english/circular_pub/2024_stc02.html
 
Note 3:


 		 For authenticity verification sake, a QR code is inserted at the lower right-hand corner of the approved document.  By scanning the QR code, the departmental copy of the licences will be retrieved and shown.  If any irregularity is found, traders should notify the Trade and Industry Department as soon as possible.
 
 

 

 

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Last Revision Date : 02 May 2025