An activity licence for the handling of military weapons is required for the following areas of activity:
- manufacturing a military weapon, its essential component, or ammunition not containing explosive substances;
- conversion of a military weapon, weapon system or their essential parts as a service;
- transportation of a military weapon, weapon system, their essential parts, military weapon ammunition or munitions;
- manufacturing of a weapon system or a significant part thereof;
- providing the service of storing ammunition or munition;
- manufacturing ammunition or munition containing explosive substances.
Legal bases
Activities related to military weapons, its ammunition, or munition are regulated by:
Requirements for an applicant
An activity licence is issued to an undertaking if they meet the following requirements:
- it is a legal personality established in a Member State of the European Union, in the European Economic Area, or the Swiss Confederation;
- its share capital is at least 25,000 euros;
- its share capital has been deposited before applying for an activity licence;
- its location and central administration are in Estonia;
- its shareholders, including indirect shareholders, procurator, members of the management board and supervisory board, and other persons having control over the management of the legal personality meet the requirements set out in section § 835 and subsection 2 of § 8323 of the Weapons Act;
- its responsible person fulfils the requirements provided in subsection 2 of § 8325 of the Weapons Act;
- its employees, subcontractor, and service provider have complied with the requirements provided in subsections 1 and 2 of § 8324 of the Weapons Act;
- it has the proper liability insurance provided in section § 8327 of the Weapons Act;
- it is not engaged in the provision of security services, expect for the application for an activity licence specified in subsection 1 of § 8333 of the Weapons Act;
- it does not provide private detective services;
- issuing an activity licence to it does not present an increased risk to the public and constitutional order, does not harm the country’s foreign relations, and does not pose a threat to national security.
A person may be appointed as the director of an undertaking and a substantial shareholding in an undertaking or control over the undertaking may also be acquired or increased by a citizen of an OECD member state or a citizen of a country with which the Republic of Estonia has concluded a treaty on the mutual protection of classified information or a citizen of another country to which the Ministry of Defence, in agreement with the Ministry of the Interior, has granted an exemption.
Collecting data with a covert investigation and making an inquiry to an electronic communications undertaking
- The police can, with the written consent of the applicant, collect personal data about them with the covert investigation specified in subsection 1 of § 1263 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and with an inquiry to an electronic communications undertaking regarding the data provided in subsections 2 and 3 of § 1111 of the Electronic Communications Act, if it is necessary for making a decision on the issuing of an activity licence.
- The person is notified of the covert investigation carried out on them after the decision has been made and if they wish, the data collected during the investigation will be introduced to them.
Cross-border operation
In case the company is registered in another country of the European Economic Area, but also wants to provide a service related to civilian weapons and ammunition in Estonia, the undertaking must apply for an activity licence under the conditions specified in this guide.
Filling out and submitting an application
To apply for an activity licence, the following data and documents must be submitted in addition to the data provided for in the General Part of the Code of Economic Activities:
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The list of shareholders of the undertaking applying for an activity licence and the list of members of the management and supervisory board of the undertaking. Personal data sheets must be enclosed.
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The legal name and description of the activity applied for, including the quantity of military weapons, their essential parts, ammunition, and munitions (e.g. maximum annual production volume or quantity stored).
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Details of the responsible person and their substitute. Personal data sheets and medical certificates must be enclosed. If necessary, documents proving the educational background of the individual from abroad and their criminal record from abroad.
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The lists of the employees, subcontractors, and service providers known at the time of application. Personal data sheets must be enclosed. If necessary, medical certificates, documents proving the educational background of the individual from abroad, and their criminal record from abroad should also be enclosed.
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The address and telephone number of the place where the military weapons, ammunition, or munitions are handled known at the time of application. If the registered immovable and buildings on which the site is located do not belong to the applicant, please attach a copy of the lease or rental agreement or other contract confirming the right to use the land and buildings, which certifies that the applicant has the right to use the land and buildings for the activity applied for.
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Extract from the accounting documents of the company confirming the contribution of the share capital.
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Liability insurance details with a copy of the policy or insurance contract. It is advisable to enclose a declaration from the insurer that the insurance complies with the requirements of section 8327 of the Weapons Act.
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Confirmation about the payment of the state fee.
Personal data sheet (form ET, form EN) – personal data sheets must be submitted for the shareholders, members of the management board and supervisory board, and the responsible person and their substitute who are natural persons.
It is not necessary to provide data or identity documents for all employees, subcontractors, and service providers. The application must identify the employees (with their personal data sheets enclosed) who have access to the premises of the undertaking where the weapons, ammunition, or munitions are handled or to the data concerning their handling.
The personal data sheet contains sensitive data. It is therefore advisable to encrypt the sheet after signing. Further detailed instructions on encryption can be found at [email protected].
The sheets completed on paper and signed digitally must be scanned and sent in encrypted form. If digital signing and encryption is not possible, the personal data sheet can be submitted to the Police and Border Guard Board on paper in a sealed envelope.
Medical certificate – a medical certificate issued by an occupational health physician on the basis of subsection 351 (4) of the Weapons Act (preferably not older than three months, valid for up to two years) is required for the employees and responsible persons who are in direct contact with military weapons.
The medical condition of an employee who is in direct contact with explosives when handling ammunition or munitions must meet the health requirements laid down for a detonator, which must be certified by a medical certificate.
A person who has a valid weapons permit issued under this Act or a valid permit to carry a weapon issued by the Defence League on the basis of the Defence League Act is not required to undergo a medical examination.
Documents proving educational background and criminal record from abroad – for persons who have resided abroad for more than six months in the last five years, or for aliens, evidence of their educational background, criminal records, or official confirmation of the absence of such record from all the countries indicated as their place of residence in the personal data sheet must be submitted. The documents must be translated into Estonian or English and certified by an apostille, unless otherwise stipulated in the foreign agreement.
The application for the activity licence can be submitted:
- by entering the Register of Economic Activities (authentication is required);
- in digitally signed and encrypted form to the e-mail address: [email protected];
- by mail to the North Prefecture (Pärnu mnt 139, Tallinn, 15028);
- with the help of a notary.
Payment of state fee
To apply for an activity licence, please pay the state fee of 1570 euros to the bank account of the Ministry of Finance:
- SEB – EE891010220034796011;
- Swedbank – EE932200221023778606;
- Luminor Bank – EE701700017001577198.
- LHV Pank - EE777700771003813400
When applying for an activity licence related to military weapons, please add reference number 2900082472 to the payment and in the payment order explanations field, please write ‘Police and Border Guard Board’ and the name of the company for which the state fee has been paid for the activity licence.
When applying for an activity licence related to the ammunition or munition of military weapons, please add reference number 2900073203 to the payment and in the payment order explanations field, please write ‘Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority’ and the name of the company for which the state fee has been paid for the activity licence.
Processing an application
The police check whether the applicant for the activity licence, the application for the activity licence, and the documents attached thereto are in conformity with the Weapons Act, ask for additional documents if necessary, and specify the circumstances which are essential for granting the activity licence or refusing to do so.
The approval or refusal of an application for an activity licence is decided by the committee formed by representatives of government agencies formed for the Police and Border Guard Board. An application for an activity licence is processed within 80 workdays from when the application was submitted. The deadline for processing an activity may be postponed once for up to 60 workdays if this is necessary due to the complexity of the case by informing the undertaking that submitted the application of it.
If the information is incomplete in the application, the applicant will be contacted at the latest on the workday following the day of identifying the incompleteness. If the applicant fails to submit the required information within the time limit, the Police and Border Guard Board can choose not to process the application for the activity licence.
In processing the application for activity licence, the provision of the General part of the Code of Economic Activities regarding the activity licence becoming valid by default will not be applied.
The activity licence is issued for a maximum of five years or for the time that a temporary obligation or task is fulfilled if it takes less than one year.
Changing the conditions of an activity licence
If the undertaking wants to change the circumstances related to the subject of review or the circumstances related to the additional conditions, they must submit an application for changing the activity licence at least 30 days before the proposed change.
The application changing the activity licence can be submitted in the same way as the application for the activity licence.
Termination of an activity licence and economic activities
If the undertaking wants to terminate its activities under the Weapons Act, they must submit an application, after which the Police and Border Guard Board revokes the activity licence or suspends the activity licence until the desired time.
If the activity licence is suspended, the holder of the activity licence must ensure that the military weapons, ammunition, and munition are stored by a person entitled for it or that they are properly guarded and protected until the military weapons, ammunition, and munition are disposed or destroyed, the activity licence is suspended, or a new activity licence is issued.
The deposit, transportation, storage, guarding, protection, and returning of the military weapons, ammunition, and munition is carried out at the expense of the holder of the activity licence.
Revoking an activity licence
An activity licence is revoked on the following grounds:
- intentional submission of incorrect information by an undertaking upon application for an activity licence, which affected the grant of a licence, provided that if such information had not been submitted, the grant of an activity licence would have been denied;
- renouncement of economic activities by the undertaking;
- validity of a relevant prohibition on economic activities imposed by a court judgment or arising from law in a relevant area of activity in respect of an undertaking, except for validity of a prohibition on economic activities imposed pursuant to this Act.
An activity licence may be revoked on the following grounds:
- failure to commence economic activities within two years after issue of the activity licence or failure to pursue economic activities within two years, and in the case of provision of services of general interest, failure to commence economic activities within 12 months after issue of the activity licence or failure to pursue economic activities within 12 months or failure to commence economic activities within the term prescribed by a secondary condition of the activity licence;
- a serious violation of the requirements of the activity licence;
- a significant damage or danger caused to public order by the activity permitted by the activity licence, which did not exist or was not known at the time of grant of the activity licence and which overrides the interest of the undertaking in continuing the activity and which cannot be eliminated by amendment of the activity licence;
- changing the secondary conditions of the activity licence.
If the activity licence is revoked, suspended, or declared void, the holder of the activity licence must ensure that the military weapons, ammunition, and munition are stored by a person entitled for it or that they are properly guarded and protected until the military weapons, ammunition, and munition are disposed or destroyed, the activity licence is suspended, or a new activity licence is issued.
The deposit, transportation, storage, guarding, protection, and returning of the military weapons, ammunition, and munition is carried out at the expense of the holder of the activity licence.
Supervision
The Police and Border Guard Board carries out state supervision over the handling of military weapons, their essential parts, and ammunition by persons governed by private law. The Technical Regulatory Authority carries out the supervision over the handling of ammunition and munition.
The Police and Border Guard Board inspects at least twice a year the lawfulness of the activities of the holder of the activity licence related to weapons and ammunition. If necessary, other offices or authorities may be involved in the inspection.
An act is drawn up on the results of the inspection, one copy of which is given to the holder of the licence and the other to the controller.
Contact information
For questions related to applying for an activity licence for military weapons under the Weapons Act, please contact:
e-mail: [email protected], phone: 612 4306
Register information and technical issues
Register of Economic Activities, tel: +372 668 7080, e-mail: [email protected]