How Norwegian Defence Industry Partners governs every supplier relationship, so the contractors we serve gain secure, qualified European supply through a single accountable Norwegian counterpart that has already done the vetting.
In defence, the supplier you choose is a risk you take on: ownership you cannot easily see, integrity you cannot assume, quality and export status you have to prove. As Europe rebuilds its defence capacity, dependable, allied supply has become a strategic question, not a procurement detail.
NDIP exists to carry that risk as structure. We represent European component producers into the Norwegian defence supply chain as a commercial agent, and we stand behind every introduction with a documented governance, vetting and quality-assurance framework. For an intermediary in defence, that framework is not overhead on the business. It is the business.
NDIP is a commercial agent (handelsagent) under the Norwegian Agency Act, which implements EU Directive 86/653/EEC. We represent European defence-component producers under binding agency agreements and lead the commercial process on their behalf: qualification, specification support, negotiation and account stewardship.
We take no title, hold no stock, carry no guarantees, and are not a party to the supply contract. What the contractor gains is one accountable party in Norway that owns the relationship from first introduction to qualified delivery, and one party that has already vetted the supplier before any conversation begins.
Our remuneration is disclosed to all parties, our introductions are documented, and our suppliers pass the same gate regardless of how commercially attractive they are. In a sector where opaque intermediaries are the recurring integrity risk, transparency is the position we take, not a concession we make.
The framework assembles a proportionate system from standards a contractor's compliance function already recognises. Each obligation below is mapped to an owner and a control, and tracked, not assumed.
| Domain | Anchor standard / regime |
|---|---|
| Anti-bribery & integrity | ISO 37001; OECD Anti-Bribery Convention; UK Bribery Act; US FCPA; Norwegian Penal Code corruption provisions |
| Commercial agency | EU Directive 86/653/EEC; Norwegian Agency Act (agenturloven) |
| Export & import control | Norwegian Export Control Act and DEKSA; EU dual-use 2021/821; ITAR/EAR interfaces |
| National security / FOCI | Norwegian Security Act (sikkerhetsloven) and NSM clearance; EU FDI Screening Regulation 2019/452 |
| Sanctions & AML | EU, UN, OFAC and UK OFSI measures; Norwegian sanctions and money-laundering law |
| Quality assurance | NATO AQAP 2110; ISO 9001; NATO codification (NCAGE / NSN) |
| Cyber & data | ISO/IEC 27001; NIS2; NSM ICT principles; GDPR |
| Responsible business | Norwegian Transparency Act (åpenhetsloven); EU CSRD / CSDDD; OECD Guidelines; UN Guiding Principles |
Governance is founder-led with a deliberate separation of duties. The person who originates a supplier is never the sole person who clears it: elevated decisions require a named second signatory, the board or advisory reviews the framework annually, and counsel is engaged on integrity, export and agency questions. The system is organised into seven domains under a single governing policy, NDIP Corporate Governance.
| Domain | What it governs |
|---|---|
| A · Integrity & responsible business | Anti-bribery (ISO 37001-aligned), code of conduct, ESG, conflicts of interest, fee transparency, whistleblowing |
| B · Inbound vetting | Background checks and supplier due diligence bound into one tiered onboarding gate |
| C · Deal governance | End-use and anti-diversion control, portfolio conflict checks, documented introductions |
| D · Quality assurance | Supplier qualification against NATO AQAP / ISO 9001, codification, non-conformance handling |
| E · Cyber control | Information security for shared specifications and data; supplier cyber-posture screening |
| F · Ongoing monitoring | Continuous sanctions and PEP screening, re-vetting by tier, audit and management review |
| G · Compliance | Regulatory adherence map, registers, audit trail, the evidence pack for a compliance review |
The framework is risk-driven, not checklist-driven. We assess risk through three lenses, because we carry our own exposure and sit between two parties whose risks we must also manage: risk to NDIP, risk in the European partner, and risk to the Norwegian contractor. Every control maps to an identified risk, and every identified risk maps to a control. We hold near-zero appetite for integrity, export-control and end-use risk.
| Tier | Trigger | What it routes to |
|---|---|---|
| Green | All residual risks low; no gate concerns | Standard onboarding; annual re-vetting |
| Amber | A residual risk needs management, or a sensitive category is not fully cleared | Enhanced due diligence; second-signatory sign-off; recorded conditions; semi-annual re-vetting |
| Red | A high residual risk, or any knock-out gate is hit | Declined or blocked, and recorded |
Any one of these stops the relationship immediately, regardless of commercial value, and the decision is recorded.
Every supplier passes the same onboarding gate. Due diligence covers ownership and control, sanctions and integrity, quality qualification, cyber posture and export status. The result sets a risk tier, the tier sets the depth of sign-off, and nothing is onboarded on a single person's judgement where the risk is elevated.
Assurance does not stop at onboarding. Sanctions and PEP screening run continuously, suppliers are re-vetted on a defined cycle, and the governance state of every relationship is held as structured data, so a compliance review is answered with a current report rather than a manual reconstruction.
You deal with one accountable party in Norway. Every supplier we bring you has passed a documented vetting and anti-corruption gate before you meet them. Quality is evidenced to NATO AQAP and ISO 9001, cyber posture is screened, and sanctions screening never stops. And because every step is recorded, we can show your compliance function the work, not just assert it.
Secure, qualified, allied European supply at a time of constrained capacity, reaching you through a partner that has already absorbed the integrity, quality and security risk on your behalf. That is protection for the business, the operation and the board, and one fewer relationship you have to police yourself.
We are glad to walk a contractor's sourcing or compliance team through the framework in detail and to share the underlying policies and vetting instruments on request.