APPENDIX 13
Letter to Rt hon John Redwood MP from
the Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office [deposited
in the Library of the House]
In the House on 10 June, I said in answer to
Alex Salmond (col 604) that:
"On the issue of arms sales, I may be wrong
but I do not recall approving a single arms control licence in
the past two months—neither does my honourable Friend the
Member for Exeter, so the assumption that the honourable Gentleman
makes is inaccurate."
In answer to you (col 607) I said:
"So far as I am aware, no applications have
been blocked; they have been subject to processing in the normal
way. However, I shall be happy to set the record straight for
the right honourable Gentleman and for the House if my recollection
is inaccurate."
As was clear from the answers I gave to these
two interventions, I was speaking from memory, not from any briefing.
I have of course checked since. Both answers I gave were, as it
happens, correct. But as the questions only related to very specific
aspects of our arms control regime, I thought that you would find
it helpful if I set out the situation in more detail. The position
is:
There is no embargo on export licences to India
and Pakistan. Although I have personally not approved arms export
licences to these two countries in the last two months, the FCO
has continued to process applications, and DTI, as the UK licensing
authority, has continued to issue licences after seeking the recommendations
of their advisory departments, including FCO and MoD. Export licences
for India and Pakistan will continue to be considered on a case
by case basis against the Consolidated criteria, and in light
of Ben Bradhsaw's PQ answer of 15 March 2002 (col 1296W), taking
into account the current situation. In addition, India and Pakistan
are permitted destinations on certain Open General Export Licences,
copies of which are placed in the Library of the House.
In an answer to a parliamentary question from
Menzies Campbell on 13 June (col 1377W), Nigel Griffith, the DTI
Minister responsible for arms export controls, published a detailed
break-down of the number of export licences for India and Pakistan
approved by the Government from December 2001 to the end of May
2002.
However, the figures for the specific two-month
period to which I referred to in the House, are as follows:
Between 10 April 2002 and 7 June 2002, DTI issued
140 standard individual export licences and eight open individual
export licences for India, and 15 standard individual export licences
and three open individual export licences for Pakistan. These
licences cover items both on the Military List and Dual-Use List.
FCO officials have been approached by industry
for further clarification about the UK's policy on arms exports
to the two countries. The advice provided by my officials to industry
has been entirely in line with my 10 June statement.
I will be placing a copy of this letter in the
Library of the House.
24 June 2002
|
