§ Mr. Hilary BennTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration he gave to the EU code of conduct on arms exports in deciding to issue a licence for the refurbishment of Moroccan heavy artillery in occupied Western Sahara. [153672]
§ Mr. WilsonThe export licence application for artillery spare parts to Morocco and the subsequent appeal were judged against the EU code of conduct, as are all export licence applications considered by my Department. The Department of Trade and Industry is the Department responsible for co-ordinating the export licence application process and granting licences. As a part of this process the Foreign and Commonwealth Office provides advice to the DTI on individual export licence applications, and any subsequent appeals.