§ Lord Corbett of Castle Valeasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any goods on the Military List recently have been approved for export to Iraq? [HL4756]
§ The Minister for Trade (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)Following consultation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Trade and Industry recently approved a licence to export laboratory equipment to UNESCO for use by the Suleymaniyah Technical Institute in Northern Iraq. The export included potassium cyanide and hydrofluoric acid which are subject to the Dual-Use Items (Export Control) Regulations 2000 as amended. Her Majesty's Government are confident that there is no proliferation threat associated with this export.
The UN Iraq Sanctions Committee approved this export to Iraq under the Oil for Food programme (OFF). Under OFF Iraq is allowed to export unlimited quantities of oil to fund the purchase of humanitarian goods. The export is consistent with the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria.