§ Mr. GarnierTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's policy on licensing arms exports to the states of the former Yugoslavia following the lifting of the United Nations arms embargo. [37694]
§ Sir Nicholas BonsorOn 18 June, the UN Security Council confirmed that the UN arms embargo on former Yugoslavia was terminated in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1021. The Government have decided that, taking into account the overall situation in the states of the former Yugoslavia and the paramount importance of ensuring the safety of British and other troops deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, applications for arms export licenses will be dealt with on the following basis:
- (a) for Slovenia and the Former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia, applications for licences to export military equipment listed in group 1 of part III of schedule 1 to the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994 and dual use equipment will be considered on a case-by-case basis;
- (b) for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, our policy is not to allow the export of military equipment listed in group 1 of part III of schedule 1 to the Export of Goods (Control) Order of 1994 during the period of the NATO-led implementation force's deployment. Within this context, applications for export licences will continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis, as will applications for export of dual use goods.
The EU as a whole has adopted a common position along these lines. We will keep this policy under review, particularly in light of progress in implementing the peace agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina.