This has been discussed on the site in other posts. Generally hunting scopes are ok to export to the UK from the US without an export permit. Military scopes and their components, i.e. scopes or components that been specially adopted by the military and had an assigned military part numbers (built to military specification) fall under the ITAR regulations and required an export permit. This gets confusing for lots of export folks also but things like and ACOG or an EO Tech are easily identified as military scopes. A Leupold rifle scopes designed for hunting would typically be considered a dual purpose scope and wouldn’t present a problem for export to the UK without a license. Note that Leupold does make some military issued scopes also. There are certain places that a black listed by the regulation and are illegal to export any kind of rifle scope to. Those countries would be instantly red flagged such as Libya or North Korea. That’s not the case with the UK.
From the US State Department (I copied this off of the net but I have done the research and contacted the folks at commerce about this issue before)
OFFICIAL NOTICE OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT
MARCH 4, 2004
We have received the Commodity Jurisdiction determination for the mil dot reticle and the riflescopes that have a mil dot reticle.
The State Department has ruled that mil dot reticle or riflescopes with a mil dot reticle are not subject to the licensing jurisdiction of the Department of State, if the item is specifically designed for commercial applications or used without modification/adaptation for military applications.
The mil dot reticle and riflescopes that have a mil dot reticle are subject to the licensing jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce. In accordance with the Export Administration Regulations, issued by the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), riflescopes (ECCN 0A987) including any applicable parts or accessories are controlled for crime control and the firearms convention treaty. Riflescopes must have an export license prior to exiting the <ST1:COUNTRY-REGIoN w:st="on">U.S.A.</ST1:COUNTRY-REGIoN> to most countries. The Commerce Country Chart located in the Export Administration Regulations, Supplement 1 to Part 738 is a comprehensive list of the countries for which an export license is required. The latest issue to date of the Commerce Country Chart is attached for your reference. For future updates refer to the homepage of the Bureau of Industry and Security at
www.bis.doc.gov. Once at the homepage click on policies and regulations, then export administration regulations (EAR), then EAR website, then EAR database, go to Supplement 1 to Part 738 for the listing.
A State Department license is required prior to shipment to any customer in any country, if the mil dot reticle or riflescopes with mil dot reticle are specifically designed, developed, configured, adapted or modified for use on United States Munitions List (USML) controlled items. Controlled items are subject to the licensing jurisdiction of the Department of State in accordance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (22 CFR 120 through 130).
If the scope is built to military specification for use by the military it is governed by the U.S. State Department. The actual restrictions are spelled out in detail under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), more specifically under The United States Munitions List Part 121.1, 22 CFR Ch. 1, f. Riflescopes and sighting devices that are not manufactured to military specifications qualify as "commercial items and are governed by the U.S. Department of Commerce under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
U.S. State Department International Trade Administration Regulations (ITAR)
http://www.pmdtc.org/consolidated_itar.htmhttp://www.pmdtc.org/reference.htm Department of State Directorate of Defense Trade Controls
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