§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, between the years 1990 and 1993, the United States has sold weapons costing $19 billion in the Gulf region; whether the United Kingdom has sold weapons for $14 billion; whether Russia has sold weapons for $9 billion; and whether these transactions constitute the kind of "excessive conventional weapons transactions" to which this year's G7 statement on Excessive Conventional Arms Transactions referred; and
Whether the United States intends to sell military equipment and services worth $1.802 billion in the fiscal year 1996; and, if so, whether this scale of transaction is of the kind referred to in this year's G7 statement on Excessive Conventional Arms Transactions.
§ Lord CheshamWe are not in a position to comment in detail on the defence exports of other countries.UK Defence Statistics provides information on the value of defence exports by broad geographic region. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
As explained in the Answer my noble friend Baroness Chalker of Wallasey gave the noble Lord on 5 July (col. WA 77), the G7 statement noted that "the excessive transfer of conventional arms, in particular to areas of conflict, is one of our main preoccupations". What contributes an excessive transfer can only be judged in the light of the circumstances of each individual case. The UK, like other G7 countries, is committed to responsibility in conventional arms transfers and encourages all other arms suppliers to observe similar responsibility in their own export policy.
We are also committed to promoting greater transparency in conventional arms transfers and strongly support the UN Register of Conventional Arms, which provides details of exports and imports in seven categories of major offensive weapons. The UK, Russia and the United States have all submitted returns to the register during the last three years (1992, 1993, 1994) of its operation. A copy of the UK return to the register for 1994 has been placed in the Libraries of the House. We are committed to encouraging maximum participation in this exercise.