§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
To what extent British arms exports (including ammunition) in the last five years have been routed through third parties, in order to evade export controls and charges of breaching international and humanitarian law.
§ Lord Clinton-DavisWe are not aware of any evidence suggesting that, in the last five years, any arms or ammunition were exported from the UK and diverted to an end-user in circumstances in breach of UK export controls. However, the investigation and prosecution of alleged breaches of UK export controls is a matter for HM Customs & Excise and anyone in possession of information which might suggest that offences have been committed should make it available to them; in the last five years there has been one prosecution where the company concerned had attempted to evade UK controls by exporting controlled aircraft parts to Switzerland from where they would have been diverted to Iran. The risk of diversion to third countries is taken into account in considering export licence applications, and we are committed to strengthening monitoring of the end-use of defence exports to prevent diversion and to ensure that exported equipment is used only on the conditions under which the export licence has been granted.