§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on policy towards the controlled export of small arms. [94141]
§ Mr. HainPursuing a responsible and transparent policy on legal transfers of small arms from the UK, and encouraging other arms exporting countries to do likewise, is one of the main elements of our approach to combatting the problem of small arms proliferation.
632WAll licence applications to export goods and technology on the UK Military List, including small arms, are assessed on a case-by-case basis against our national export licensing criteria and those in the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports. If there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression or international aggression, or would provoke, prolong or aggravate existing tensions or conflicts in the destination country, the application is refused. We also carefully consider the risk of the goods being diverted to an undesirable end-user and the effect of the proposed export on regional stability.
We have encouraged non EU-member states to respect the principles of the EU Code of Conduct in their exports of military equipment, including small arms. We have also supported moves to address the issue of legal exports of small arms in the Wassenaar Arrangement for Export Controls on Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods.
The EU Joint Action on Small Arms of December 1998 commits the UK and other member states to work for international acceptance of the principle that small arms specially designed for military use should be exported only to governments.