Trade compliance insights
Practical insights into due diligence, sanctions, export control, dual-use and international trade.
These articles are intended to help organisations better understand complex compliance questions.
Popular insights
What are dual-use goods?
A practical explanation of dual-use goods: what they are, which control lists apply and when your product needs an export licence.
How does sanctions screening work?
Why sanctions screening goes further than simply checking a name, and which risk factors can play a role.
Customer Due Diligence: a practical explanation
What Customer Due Diligence (CDD) involves, why it goes further than KYC, and how organisations apply a risk-based approach in practice.
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What is an Internal Compliance Programme (ICP) and when is it mandatory?
An Internal Compliance Programme (ICP) is mandatory for certain export licences, and sensible for any dual-use trade. What it involves.
Exporting to the Middle East: which compliance checks are relevant?
Exporting to the Middle East calls for sanctions screening, export control and end-user research. A practical overview per area of attention.
10 red flags for international end users
Ten concrete signals that may point to a high-risk end user or end use in international exports — and what to do next.
What is an end-user statement?
An end-user statement is often a mandatory part of an export licence — but not a guarantee. What the document does and does not demonstrate.
What is the catch-all clause in export control?
The catch-all clause can make even non-listed products subject to a licence. What it means exactly and when you need to watch out for it.
When do you need an export licence?
An overview of the main situations in which an export licence may be mandatory, from dual-use classification to the catch-all clause.
Is my product dual-use? How to assess it
A step-by-step plan to assess whether a product, component or technology falls under dual-use regulations — including the most common misconceptions.
Sanctions circumvention via third countries: what recent research shows
Research by Statistics Netherlands and a criminal conviction show how sanctioned goods reach Russia via circumvention routes — and which red flags go with them.
New Dutch International Sanctions Measures Act: administrative fines for sanctions violations
Dutch Customs and the Investment Screening Office (BTI) will be able to impose administrative fines for sanctions violations, alongside criminal law — what this means for your business.
DNB fine for ABN AMRO: a lesson in ongoing customer due diligence
A €8.5 million fine shows what supervisors expect from ongoing monitoring of high-risk customers — and what that means for you.
What is export control?
An introduction to export control: what it is, when it may apply and which risks companies need to know about.
What is Enhanced Due Diligence?
When standard customer research is not enough and Enhanced Due Diligence is needed, what this research adds and which signals call for it.
What is end-user screening?
Why the identity of the end user matters just as much as that of the direct customer, and how end-user screening works.
What is end-use screening?
An explanation of end-use screening: why the intended use of a product matters just as much as the buyer, and how to assess this risk.
What is a UBO and why does UBO research matter?
An explanation of what a UBO is, how ultimate beneficial owners are identified and why this is part of sound customer research.
What are dual-use goods?
A practical explanation of dual-use goods: what they are, which control lists apply and when your product needs an export licence.
Sanctions screening of companies: what should you look out for?
Practical points of attention when screening business parties for sanctions risks, from corporate structure to transaction patterns.
How do you recognise risks in international trade?
An overview of the main compliance risks in international trade and how organisations map them in a structured way.
How does sanctions screening work?
Why sanctions screening goes further than simply checking a name, and which risk factors can play a role.
Customer Due Diligence: a practical explanation
What Customer Due Diligence (CDD) involves, why it goes further than KYC, and how organisations apply a risk-based approach in practice.