§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the value of exports to(a) Bahrain, (b) Kuwait, (c) the United Arab Emirates, (d) Qatar and (e) Oman of (i) land systems and equipment; (ii) air systems and equipment, (iii) naval systems and equipment and (iv) services and consulting in each of the last five years. [34758]
§ Mr. SpellarThe information requested relates to the procurement of defence equipment and services by foreign governments. Details have been provided to the Ministry of Defence either directly by those governments or voluntarily by British companies under commercial confidentiality constraints.
Officials are currently reviewing whether the information may be released under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as that review has been completed. A copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
445WIn the interim, I can advise that the UK reports the annual export of major weapons systems to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms which was established in 1992. This information is provided voluntarily by industry on the understanding that, by virtue of its inclusion in the UN Arms Register, it will be made public. The table shows the UK's return for the countries specified according to UN Register category. Categories I, II and III are land systems, category IV and V and VII are air systems and category VI is a naval system. The UK's 1997 return to the Register will be available in May.
UN Register category/Importing state 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 I. Battle tanks Oman — — — 12 6 II. Armoured combat vehicles Kuwait — — — 66 116 Oman — — 4 3 51 III. Large calibre artillery systems — — — — — IV. Combat aircraft Oman — 1 12 4 — UAE — 16 2 4 — V. Attack helicopters — — — — — VI. Warships Oman — — — — 1 VII. Missiles and missile launchers UAE 398 328 195 — —