§ Ann ClwydTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will estimate the monetary value of torture equipment, as defined under the Government's new arms export criteria, exported overseas, in each of the last five years. [12340]
§ Mrs. RocheThe criteria that were announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 28 July,Official Report, columns 26–29, do not include any definition of "torture equipment".
In a separate announcement on 28 July, Official Report, columns 65–66, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs identified certain equipment for which there is evidence of its use for torture or other abuses, and whose export the Government were banning. As my right hon. Friend made clear, some of this equipment is not at present controlled and the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994 will be amended to bring them under control; this will be done soon. As companies are generally not required to report exports to my Department, we do not know the extent or value of any exports from the UK of equipment covered by the ban.