STRATLINK
A web-based information system for registering, processing and issuing strategic goods and their licenses. With the help of Stratlink, application, processing and issuing of licenses becomes easy and transparent
introduction
Trade in strategic goods and provision of related services is strictly governed by rules. The basic principle is that such trade requires a license and/or must be reported. Stratlink is a national web-based information system for registering traders and processing strategic trade authorizations.
With the help of Stratlink, applying for, processing of and issuing of licenses becomes easy and transparent. The system stores applications, processing data and license documents in the database and keeps a log of all the activities undertaken.
Transparent and accurate strategic trade control helps prevent illicit trade in proliferation sensitive items, enhance national security, and facilitate legitimate trade through faster scrutiny of applications.
For the past 7 years, 12 countries from various regions around the globe have successfully implemented and tailored the e-licensing platform Stratlink, to align with their legislations and country-specific requirements.
Today, Stratlink stands as a testament to the collective expertise and experience of some of the world’s most forward-thinking strategic trade licensing practitioners. These countries have embraced a transparent digital platform designed to enhance the efficiency of application processes and mitigate delays and other obstacles to legitimate trade.
Main advantages of Stratlink
- All information in one solid and secure system/database;
- Fast and correct communication;
- Support of electronical data exchange and submission between all stakeholders;
- Decrease of irrelevant and incorrect data submissions;
- Flexible information system allowing to build up its whole e-licensing process without any need for considerable IT skills or help from the development team;
- Possibility to modify the licensing process or license and application forms within minutes.
- Simplified communication with customs officials;
- Licensing agencies can issue all licenses via a single window system and have easy access to all documents;
- Connection with all referral agencies – a solid procedural environment – only one channel for strategic trade control;
- Digital footprints – everyone who accesses the system leaves digital footprints so data manipulation can be easily detected;
- Data protection;
- Reduction of paperwork;
stratlink is made up of two parts
THE PUBLIC PORTAL
Available to all applicants
THE BACK-OFFICE APPLICATION
Available to organizations, officials and subject matter experts responsible to manage of strategic strade
THE PUBLIC PORTAL OF STRATLINK
Everyone who wants to apply for a license, an end use certificate, or some other authorization for strategic trade purposes can log into the system and take advantage of the following possibilities:
- The applicant can submit new applications easily and comfortably via the system. For example, if you have already applied for some licenses, the system will automatically offer you a previously pre-filled template for the same application to make your life easier. So, if you are constantly applying for the same license, you can just take the template and modify it according to your needs – you just need to change the quantities and values, making the process very quick. It takes approximately 5 minutes to submit it;
- While filling out the application form the applicant can easily find the correct connections between commodity codes and customs codes thanks to the correlation table functionality;
- The applicant can see all their applications and submissions that are currently being processed or already confirmed, including, check the deadline for the decision and any other relevant information. It is basically an archive of applicant related data. The applicant can monitor in real time what is happening to their applications and when their proceedings will be decided. The applicant also has the possibility to withdraw their applications;
- The applicant has an overview of all the licenses they currently hold and how long they are valid for as well as a history of old licenses;
- The applicant can contact secretary/administrator, submit reports and carry out other licensing related activities in the public portal;
- In the portal the applicant can also see all the requests for additional information that the licensing agency or any other relevant official has submitted to them. The applicant can easily open the application in the portal and answer the questions. It makes communication much easier and faster;
- The applicant can read information about the application processes, requirements, legislation or other relevant topics all in one place.
THE BACK OFFICE APPLICATION
The back office of Stratlink is meant to be used by all the Government entities responsible for implementing strategic trade controls in the country. Every back-office user has their own defined rights and roles, which are assigned to them by the system administrator. The country can generate as many different roles in the system as it wants. The user rights of each role can be customized with almost endless possibilities. Users can be divided into different roles once different rights have been created/assigned. In addition, Stratlink can be used by multiple licensing agencies.
Here are some of the main activities the back-office users can carry out in Stratlink:
- Configure license applications’ review and procedures according to the country’s requirements and current legislation. The system is built as dynamically as possible, so you would have the possibility to update it according to your current legislation at any time. The system supports implementation of different coordination lines and process stages and is configurable to any licensing procedure;
- Upload license and application templates and manage which templates are used under which processes
- Generate the final license document with one click;
- Configure, set up and modify application fields and forms that are visible to applicants in the public portal;
- View all applications and submissions currently in process;
- Divide applications between different licensing officers;
- Start different coordination lines and stages of the process automatically or manually;
- See the overview of each application – application type, applicant, application number, data submission times, deadline for the decision (if it is appointed) and status of the process;
- See how many decisions out of total have already been submitted by referral agencies on the application process; see feedback from referral agencies (their communication with experts and applicants as well as internal discussions); also, all application-related activities are logged;
- Keep a document registry for licensing agency and referral agencies, officials, and subject matter experts of all the strategic trade related documents. These include all the documents and applications that have been submitted and issued through the system;
- Generate as many different reports and searches as needed based on all the information that is stored in the system (e.g. the Annual Report to UNROCA);
- There is a forum for internal communication between system users where they can exchange messages and send documents to each other;
- Custom nomenclatures and commodity codes can be changed and updated constantly according to country’s legislations. It is also possible to add additional warnings or informational texts to specific commodities which are displayed to the applicant. It is also possible to add a correlation table to the system for commodity codes and customs codes;
- Create invoices and check payments of fees related to applicants and their applications;
- Referral agencies can submit their opinion, sign decision documents and review the ongoing data processing;
- Technical experts can check commodities and submit their expertise, if needed;
- Restricted party screening – every night the system automatically downloads the newest versions of different restricted party lists and sanctions (US State Department Lists of Parties Debarred Pursuant to the ITAR, OFAC Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN) and consolidated list of persons, groups and entities subject to EU financial sanctions and European Union embargoes and sanctions). It’s also possible to enter a national list. Every night the system will run a full entity screening check based on those lists on all the applications in the system to determine whether any of the transactional parties are listed anywhere. If there is a sufficient overlap, the system will warn the licensing official about it;
- Create different informational pages to the public side to inform the applicants about licensing procedure, requirements, legislation or other related topics;
- Customs officials have the opportunity to enter the information about the actual transfer which can later be compared to the information reported by the applicant;
- Manage post-licensing activities;
- Connect the system with Google Analytics (optional).