Shipping etc
98. The UKWGA has suggested that those engaged in
the actual transfer of arms, such as shipping agents, freight
forwarders and airlines, should also be subject to a licensing
regime.[159]
There are apparently not many shipping agents likely to be involved.
Those carrying arms are already under a licensing regime, presumably
as a result of the potentially hazardous nature of their cargo.
It is suggested that an additional layer of licensing would not
prove unduly onerous on either the companies involved or on the
machinery of government. The definitions of illicit trafficking
in the Firearms Protocol in which the UK is playing a leading
part are said to include the delivery and movement of goods.
99. Clause 5 of the draft Bill is drawn widely to
cover activities which facilitate the acquisition or disposal
of controlled goods. The explanatory paragraph in the text does
not explicitly rule out the actual transfer of goods belonging
to others. [160]
Cm 5091 also states that it will be "possible to adapt the
controls on trafficking and brokering to give effect to any future
international understandings or commitments in this area, as well
as for other reasons".[161]
We share the Secretary of State's hesitation to extend controls
too widely.[162]
It would however seem perverse that those arranging for arms to
be purchased for use in some area of conflict should be under
a licensing regime, but not those responsible for arranging or
undertaking their actual transfer. The Bill as presented should
allow for the possibility of subsequent introduction of controls
on the actual transport of controlled goods, and on those arranging
for such transport, by an appropriate extension of the scope of
"trade controls" as defined in Clause 5.
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