HC Deb 05 November 2002 vol 392 c248W
Mr. Berry

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry's Answer of 22nd October,Official Report, column 247W, on beryllium, what end-use monitoring has been undertaken in relation to the export of beryllium to Iran. [78875]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

As stated by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry (Mr Nigel Griffiths) on 28 October 2002,Offical Report, Columns 531–532W, the Government attaches great importance to ensuring that UK exports are not misused, diverted or re-exported to undesirable end-uses. A risk assessment was made at the licensing stage of this export, including careful examination of information about the proposed end-use and end-user of the goods. We continue to believe that the export of less than half an ounce of beryllium to the University of Science and Technology in Tehran is not of concern with respect to use in weapons of mass destruction and that the end-use stated in the original export licence application was legitimate. In these circumstances we have considered end-use monitoring not to be necessary for this export.

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