APPENDIX 20
Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Department of Trade and Industry
INFORMATION ON INDIVIDUAL CASES MENTIONED
IN ORAL EVIDENCE
ANSWERS TO
REMAINING WRITTEN
QUESTIONS
Application for a licence to export helmets to
China
RBR initially applied on 23 April 1997 for a
licence to export 1,000 bullet resistant helmets and 1,000 face
shields to the Hebei Province Public Security Bureau, People's
Republic of China. However, they subsequently requested an amendment
to the application, and provided a revised end-user undertaking
on 10 June, after which the application was circulated to MoD
and FCO in line with their requirements. In light of the advice
received, DTI refused the application on 13 August.
Within DTI, there was some delay in processing
the application, adding two to three weeks to the overall processing
time, but in the main the overall time taken reflects the sensitivity
of the destination, including the fact that China is subject to
an EU arms embargo. RBR's subsequent appeal against the decision
to refuse their application was considered at ministerial level
and the original decision was upheld.
Since the events in Tiananmen Square in 1989,
the Government has consistently refused to allow the sale to China
of "any equipment which is likely to be used for internal
repression". Mr Garland questioned how this could apply to
helmets, and in RBR's appeal, argued that helmets and face shields
were defensive rather than offensive. However, it was concluded
that the arguments in favour of allowing the export for the protection
of members of the security forces were outweighed by the clearly
identifiable risk that the goods might be used repressively, for
example in the violent suppression of an incident such as Tiananmen.
Application for a licence to export stun grenades
to Colombia
The application from Pains Wessex for a licence
to export 19,121 stun grenades for use by the Colombian Government
was received by DTI on 31 October 1997 and was circulated to MoD
and FCO on 19 November 1997. The advisory departments took different
views, and the matter has yet to be resolved.
Application for a licence to export ship-mounted
machine guns to Colombia
The application from Manroy Engineering to export
four ship-mounted machine guns to Spain to be fitted to patrol
boats for export to Colombia was received by DTI on 7 January
1998. DTI felt it necessary to obtain additional information from
the applicant, and once this had been obtained, the applicaton
was circulated to MoD and FCO (on 9 February). The advisory departments
initially took different views on the application, but the issue
was resolved and the licence was issued on 17 March.
26 November 1998
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