HC Deb 17 September 2003 vol 410 c53WS
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs(Mr. Bill Rammell)

Following consultation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Trade and Industry recently approved a licence to export Military List Goods to Iraq, The arms embargo against Iraq remains in place under United Nations Security Council resolution 1483 (2003), with the exception ofarms and other related material required by the (Coalition Provisional) Authority to serve the purposes of this and other related resolutions". Accordingly Her Majesty's Government consider it appropriate to grant exemptions for these goods to be exported on the basis that they are to used by a private security firm in the protection of the British Office in Baghdad. The work of the British Office in Baghdad forms part of the Authority's functions under resolution 1483 (2003). The export is consistent with the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria. Future applications will continue to be assessed on a case by case basis against the UN Embargo and Consolidated Criteria, taking into account the circumstances prevailing at the time.