HC Deb 18 January 1995 vol 252 c559W
Mr. Worthington

To ask the President of the Board of Trade which types of anti-personnel mine are manufactured in Britain and are allowed to be exported.

Mr. Ian Taylor

Anti-personnel mines have not been produced in Britain, or exported, for over a decade. On 27 July 1994, the Government announced an indefinite moratorium on the export of mines that do not self-destruct or self-neutralise. In considering any application for an export licence for self-destructing or self-neutralising anti-personnel mines, my Department, together with our advisers in other Government Departments, would consider very carefully the political and military implications of allowing consignments to go overseas. Adherence by the proposed recipient country to the principles of protocol II of the UN weaponry convention, which places certain prohibitions and restrictions on the use of land mines, would be a significant factor in such considerations.