§ Lord Ponsonby of Shulbredeasked Her Majesty's Government:
When they intend to update the Summary of Government Commitments regarding the application of Strategic Export Controls. [HL1724]
§ Baroness Ramsay of CartvaleWe will shortly be placing a copy of the updated Summary in the Libraries 179WA of the House. During the course of research for the Annual Report on Strategic Export Controls a number of technical errors were discovered in the Summary, which forms an Appendix to the Annual Report. These errors, which pre-date 1 May 1997, are:
the entry for Burma should have read "Does not cover contracts existing at the time of imposition". Previous versions of the Summary had stated that existing contracts were covered. (1991 EU embargo).
the entry for Liberia should have specified that the embargo did not apply to ECOWAS peacekeeping forces. Previous versions of the Summary had omitted this point. (1992 UN embargo).
the entry for Sudan should have read "the embargo does not cover contracts existing at the time of imposition". Previous versions of the Summary had stated that existing contracts were covered. (1994 EU embargo).
the date of the introduction of the EU arms embargo against China should read 27 June rather than 26 June 1989 as in previous versions.
In addition, for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia we have added that the embargoes were originally imposed in 1991. The 1996 Ministerial statements (referred to in the Summary) confirmed the EU's position on arms exports to these countries.
We have taken the opportunity of publishing the Annual Report to correct these errors.
§ Lord Ponsonby of Shulbredeasked Her Majesty's Government:
When they intend to publish the Annual Report on Strategic Export Controls. [HL1725]
§ Baroness Ramsay of CartvaleThe Government have published the Annual Report today. I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and in the Vote Office. The Report will also be available on the FCO website.