§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Bill Rammell)Following consultation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Trade and Indus try recently approved a further licence to export military list goods to Iraq. The arms embargo against Iraq remains in place under United Nations Security Council resolution 1483 (2003), with the exception of arms and other related material required by the Coalition Provisional Authority to serve the purposes of this and other related resolutions. Accordingly, Her Majesty's Government consider it appropriate to grant exemptions for the export of sub-machine guns and pistols that are to be used by private security firms contracted to provide close protection for employees of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq. The export is consistent with the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria. Future applications will continue to be assessed on a case by case basis against the UN embargo and consolidated criteria, taking into account the circumstances prevailing at the time.