As a defence company we must fully understand and comply with laws and controls governing defence exports everywhere we operate, and ensure we meet the highest standards of conduct in our work.
BAE Systems operates within a tightly regulated environment and is subject to legislation governing defence exports. This aims to ensure that exports of goods and technology do not fall into the wrong hands.
We are also subject to the UK Export Control Act. This gives the UK Government powers over intangible (e.g. electronic or digital) transfers of military and other sensitive technology, and over defence trade between third parties. It also provides for transparency and accountability. In the US we are subject to regulatory controls which include the Arms Export Control Act, the Export Administration Act and Treasury embargoes.
The defence industry has national governments as its customers. It is, therefore inevitable that we will have significant contact with different facets of, in particular, the UK and the US governments – our principal customers. It is imperative that we operate ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings, both for the sake of our own reputation and that of our customers.
We must also rigidly observe requirements of confidentiality and national security which means we are not always able to be as open on issues as our stakeholders would like.
