§ Mr. GapesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken to control the export of television broadcast equipment to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; and if he will make a statement. [104574]
§ Mr. VazAs of 5 January 2000, we have introduced an amendment to the Export of Goods (Control) Order to control the export to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) of television cameras, transmitters, codecs and transposers, satellite earth stations and up-and-down link equipment and transmission link and relay equipment. All applications to export these goods will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
We have introduced the control because of our concerns that companies based in the UK may consider supplying this equipment to the state-run television company in the FRY. This company is a propaganda tool of the Milosevic regime and has been consistently used by the regime to defend and promote its repressive policies, most recently and noticeably during the Kosovo crisis.