HC Deb 21 May 1997 vol 294 c72W
Mr. Campbell-Savours

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next intends to visit the UN to discuss the supply of arms to third world regimes. [319]

Mr. Tony Lloyd

My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary had no immediate plans for such a visit. As a major arms exporter, the UK will exercise its responsibility to ensure that the arms trade is properly regulated. We have made a number of commitments in this area. In particular, we will not permit the export of arms to regimes which might use them for internal repression or international aggression. We shall work for increased transparency on defence exports at the national and international level. We shall also work for the introduction of an EU code of conduct setting high common standards to govern arms exports from all EU countries, and for the strengthening of the UN Register on Conventional Arms.

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