(1) The Minister may assess at any time, and on an ongoing basis, the likelihood of a vendor being subjected to interference by a third country.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the matters that the Minister may consider for the purposes of subsection (1), the Minister shall have regard to the following matters when making an assessment under that subsection:

(a) whether or not a strong link exists between the vendor and the government of any third country;

(b) the status of the rule of law and the political situation within the third country in question, in particular whether or not there is democratic or legislative oversight, including an independent judiciary, in place, and whether or not data protection or security agreements exist between the European Union and the third country in question;

(c) the characteristics of the vendor's business ownership and practices, in particular whether the ownership structure is transparent and whether the vendor's sources of finance are transparent;

(d) the ability of the third country in question to exert any form of pressure upon the vendor, including in relation to influencing where equipment is to be manufactured;