§ Richard Younger-RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps are being taken to block the practice by some armaments manufacturers and exporters of exporting components of particular weapons to particular states where they can then be assembled and so avoid Government refusal to export particular weapons. [188131]
§ Nigel GriffithsHMG assesses export licence application for component against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria in the same way as main equipment. Full account of the equipment's potential end-use and destination as well as the stated end-use and destination is taken when making our licensing assessment. HMG also considers whether components are for use in licensed production and if so take account of any associated risks in the licensing assessment. HMG would not issue a licence where there was a clear risk the equipment would be misused or diverted. On making this decision HMG use information form a wide variety of sources, including overseas posts, NGOs, intelligence and historical licensing records.