§ Ann ClwydTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list the specialised equipment for military training licensed for export to Indonesia within the 3 ML14 export licences and the specific military unit that received the equipment. [40384]
§ Mrs. RocheInquiries are being made under the Code of Practice on Access to Government information relating to the information requested. I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible and place a copy of that letter in the Library of the House.
§ Ann ClwydTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans she has to improve the transparency of arms exports. [40383]
§ Mr. Tony LloydI have been asked to reply.
We are committed to increased transparency in the field of arms exports. We will publish an annual report on the state of UK Strategic Export Controls and their application, thereby providing for parliamentary 263W consideration of the application of the criteria announced by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on 28 July 1997 Official Report, columns 26–29. Work is in hand and an announcement will be made in due course. Once this has been done, we will also press for a European Register of Arms Exports to make information on arms exports available at a European level.
We have played a leading role in working for greater transparency within the Wassenaar Arrangement, for example by undertaking voluntarily to inform partners of export licence applications which we have refused on regional stability grounds.
We are committed to strengthening the UN Register of Conventional Arms by encouraging greater disclosure of information on arms exports and arms transfers by all countries. We were disappointed by the limited scope of the recommendations made by last year's Panel of Government Experts and will continue to explore ways of broadening the scope of the Register.
As part of the DTI-led review of Strategic Export Controls we are considering the introduction of Parliamentary scrutiny of Export of Goods (Control) Orders.