§ Lord Pestonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have approved an export licence for the supply to the Netherlands of shotgun ammunition intended for use in Bosnia.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)We recently approved the export to the Netherlands of 2,500 rounds of CS gas and 123WA target-practice shotgun ammunition for use in riot-control by Dutch UN armed forces in Bosnia. Given that the ammunition is needed to support peace-keeping activities in Bosnia and that it is important that UN forces in Bosnia, which include British troops, are able to protect themselves, we were glad to be able to approve this export as an exception to our interpretation of the EU arms embargo on the former Yugoslavia. This decision does not affect our continued support of the EU common position on arms exports to the former Yugoslavia.