HC Deb 10 December 1996 vol 287 cc137-8W
Mr. Straw

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if the Isle of Man is subject to the UN embargo on the sale of arms of Rwanda; [7436]

(2) what steps he is taking to ensure that the Isle of Man is subject to the UN embargo on arms sales to Rwanda; [7439]

(3) when he issued a Privy Council order ensuring the UN embargo on the sale of arms to Rwanda applies to (a) the Isle of Man and (b) other Crown dependencies; and on what dates such other were issued; [7437]

(4) what procedures are followed by his Department to ensure that Crown dependencies are subject to the same UN embargoes as the UK; and what plans he has to review them. [7438]

Mr. Sackville

The Isle of Man is subject to the United Nations embargo on the sale of arms to Rwanda. An Order in Council—SI 1994–1637—was made on 24 June 1994 which applied this embargo to all persons within the United Kingdom and to any person elsewhere who was a British citizen or a body incorporated under United Kingdom law. Most residents in the three crown dependencies are British citizens and are covered by this order, as are companies incorporated in any of the islands if they are operating from within the United Kingdom.

Orders in Council, which will have the effect of extending the embargo to companies incorporated in the islands and operating from outside the United Kingdom and to foreign nationals in the islands, will be made later this month. An inter-departmental committee has been set up to examine the procedures within Government in relation to the trafficking in arms, and to determine whether there has been a gap in controls and, if so, what action needs to be taken.