Jurisdiction: Republic of Ireland
Commencement: 24th March 2020
These Regulations implement European legislation which prevents the export of certain personal protective equipment (PPE) during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
This legislation implements Commission implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/402 making the exportation of certain products subject to the production of an export authorisation, which prevents the export of certain types of PPE outside the European Union. The objective is to preserve stocks of essential PPE within Europe during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In order to assist EU Member States during the 2020 Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the European Commission has passed a directly acting Regulation (Commission implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/402 making the exportation of certain products subject to the production of an export authorisation). The EU Regulation requires that certain types of personal protective equipment cannot be exported outside the European Union unless an authorisation has been granted by the relevant competent authority in each Member State. (N.b. exports are still permitted to the UK during the Brexit transition period).
The European Union (Control of Exports of Personal Protective Equipment) Regulations 2020 provide that the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation is the relevant competent authority for the Republic of Ireland.
The format for the export authorisation application form is set out in Schedule 1 to the Regulations.
Certain countries are excluded from the export ban i.e. PPE can be exported to the following countries without the need for prior authorisation:
- Norway;
- Iceland;
- Liechtenstein;
- Switzerland;
- the Faroe Islands;
- Andorra;
- San Marino;
- the Vatican City; and
- the overseas countries and territories listed in Annex II of the Treaty on European Union.
The EU Regulation will only last 6 weeks from 20th March until 26th April 2020.
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