§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what applications for export licences to countries in the middle east for defence equipment have(a) been granted, (b) received and (c) discussed over the past year; and if he will make a statement. [627]
§ Mr. NelsonEarlier this year, there were placed in the Library of the House detailed statistical analyses of export licences which were granted for military, paramilitary and security equipment in the calendar years 1993 and 1994. These analyses included all countries of destination for which these licences were issued, including middle east countries. Early in 1996, I intend to place in the Library of the House a similar analysis for the calender year 1995. I shall write to the hon. Member when this is done.
As regards "applications received", this total is the sum of those which are granted and which are refused—other than those which lapse during their processing at the instigation of the applicant. Details of licences which were refused in 1993 and in 1994 were included in the Export Control Organisation's annual reports for those two years and copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House. As part of the task of statistical analysis for the year 1995, to which I have referred, I intend to include in the statistical report details of licences which were refused.
I am not clear as to what further information the hon. Member is seeking when he asks which applications have been "discussed".
All military, security and paramilitary goods and arms, ammunition and related material are controlled under the UK's export control legislation and cannot be exported without a licence from the Department of Trade and Industry. The Government observe strict responsibility over arms exports, primarily by means of considering applications for export licences against strict established criteria. These criteria include those which have been agreed with our European Union partners and in other international forums. We consider very carefully the political and military implications of allowing individual arms consignments to go overseas. We pay particular attention to proposed exports of military goods to countries with poor human rights records, where such goods might be used for internal repression, and to countries or regions where the export of arms might contribute to destabilisation of the area.
The UK also observes arms embargoes imposed by the United Nations and the European Union on a number of countries. Individual decisions as to whether specific equipment should be exported to specific markets are therefore taken in the light of these internationally agreed commitments.