HC Deb 19 December 2003 vol 416 cc77-8W
Mr. Laurence Robertson

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with representatives of other governments about restricting international arms trading; what restrictions he plans to introduce; and if he will make a statement. [145373]

Mr. MacShane

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mike Hancock) on 23 October 2003,Official Report, column 654W.

Mr. Laurence Robertson

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government"s policy on the export of arms. [145374]

Mr. MacShane

Britain has one of the strictest and most transparent arms export licensing systems in the world. All export licence applications are rigorously assessed on a case by case basis against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria, taking account of the circumstances prevailing at the time and other announced Government policies. Our criteria clearly set out our commitment to take account of the risk that exports might be used for either internal repression or external aggression.

The British Government have been in the forefront of international efforts to strengthen the regulation of the arms trade and proliferation. We were instrumental in getting agreement for an EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, and we regularly encourage other countries to adopt stricter and more transparent arms export policies. We are active members of all the key regimes that work to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, such as the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and the Australia Group (which deals with chemical and biological weapons). The UK is also a member of key arms control treaties, such as the Ottawa Convention on Landmines, the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.

We remain committed to working with other states to find common ground on the issue of export controls. The UK aims to forge partnerships across regions, with states who have different perspectives and approaches to the export of arms, in an effort to secure a universal commitment to strengthening export controls, thereby making an important contribution to the global effort to combat weapons of proliferation.