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James Bond Literary Wikia
Universal Exports
Universal Exports
Founded 1940[1]
Locale London, England
Country United Kingdom United Kingdom
Appearances Live and Let Die (first)
You Only Live Twice (last)

Universal Exports or Universal Export Co. is a fictional import-export company which acts as a cover for the British Secret Service and as the employer of their agents.

History[]

Universal Exports made its first appearance in the second Ian Fleming novel, Live and Let Die, under the name Universal Export. In the novel, "Universal Export" acts as one of the covers used by British field agents.[2] When an agent needed to make an urgent call to London, on an insecure line, they played the role of a company representative contacting their managing director. The operative then proceeded to report in, concealing his real message in corporate jargon.

In Moonraker it is also mentioned that the "Universal Export Co." is the cover for the Secret Service's offices in London. Along with other fictional businesses "Radio Tests Ltd.", "Delaney Bros. (1940) Ltd" and the "Omnium Corporation" they occupy the "big, grey building near Regents Park".[2][1]

By the time On Her Majesty's Secret Service takes place, it is noted that the "Universal Export" cover story was all but finished. After almost having his cover blown Bond muses, "As cover, solid cover, Universal was 'Brûlé' with the pros. It had been in use too long. All the secret services in the world had penetrated it by now. Obviously Blofeld knew all about it."[3] In The Man with the Golden Gun it is revealed that the now defunct "Universal Export" cover has been officially replaced with a new one - "Transworld Consortium".[4]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 (2012) Moonraker. Random House, p.16. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 (2012) Live and Let Die. Random House, p.108. 
  3. (2012) On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Random House, p.191. 
  4. (2012) The Man with the Golden Gun. Random House, p.46. 
007 Wiki Icon This page uses content from James Bond Wiki. The original article was at Universal Exports. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with James Bond Literary Wikia, the text of the James Bond Wiki is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


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