Strategic goods

International control procedures dealing with strategic goods handling.

Polish enterprises involved in international trade are subject to international control procedures (e.g. the Wassenaar Agreement), which regulate trade in strategic goods that may be a threat to peace, safety, respect for human rights and fundamental civil freedoms.

In 2002, as part of the integrated quality management system, Schenker Sp. z o.o. implemented the Internal Control System (ICS) confirmed by the certificate accredited by the Polish Centre for Testing and Certification. Therefore, it was permitted to provide logistics services with the use of all kinds of international transport of strategic goods.
According to the criteria specified in the Act of November 29, 2000 on international trade in strategic commodities, technologies and services (…), this group includes armaments and dual use goods. According to the requirements of the above-stated act, in most cases each entity (including forwarder and carrier) involved in international trade must obtain relevant authorization from the Minister of Economy and Labour in case of one of the following transactions:

• armaments export (as indicated on the armaments export list)
• armaments import (as indicated on the armaments import list)
• export of commodities of dual use (outside the EU, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Norway and Switzerland, excluding few small groups of commodities)
• export of goods under ‘catch all’ clause (not on any list but potentially dangerous due to the type of item and country of dispatch)
• export to the countries subject to trade sanctions, i.e. Cuba, Iran, Congo, China (with Taiwan), Bunna, Sudan, North Korea, Syria, Libya, Bosnia and Herzegovina

To ensure effective service related to strategic commodities and especially to obtain a relevant authorization for Schenker Sp. zo.o. from Minister of Economy and Labour for the specific service, the customer must provide the following documents at least 30 days in advance:

• forwarding order (with a strategic commodity code description)
• a copy of the customer’s request for the authorization of the Minister of Economy and Labour
• Customer’s trade permission regarding strategic commodities (if not yet available, it may be sent later however not later than by the date of dispatch)

However, in cases which do not require the authorization of the Minister of Economy and Labour (e.g. export of majority of dual use commodities to EU countries), Schenker Sp. z o.o. reserves the right to deliver such goods within 3 days of receipt of the forwarding order with the correct code of strategic commodity.Therefore, we are certain and we can assure our customers that all transactions with foreign companies are verified, as specified in the applicable regulations. We avoid the risk of getting involved in transactions which might be a threat to peace, safety and human rights as well as fundamental civil freedoms.