§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence to which countries the UK has exported small arms; how much revenue was generated from such sales in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement. [7338]
§ Dr. MoonieThe Government's Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls (Part III) provide details of the number of weapons and small arms exported, by country. Information on the total value of guns, small arms and parts exported in each of the last five years has been published in the Ministry of Defence publication "UK Defence Statistics 2001" (Table 1.13), which is available in the Library of the House. In both cases the definition, which is based on Customs Tariff codes, includes large as well as small calibre weapons.
The UK is not a major exporter of small arms. It is Government policy that small arms which are declared surplus by the Ministry of Defence—other than automatic weapons which are routinely destroyed—are made available only to Governments, for use by acceptable military, paramilitary and police organisations, either directly or through duly licensed entities authorised to procure weapons.