Select Committee on International Development Second Joint Report


1  INTRODUCTION

1. An effective arms export control regime can make an important contribution to the security of the United Kingdom and the world. States have a right to defend themselves against external threats and to prevent domestic insecurity. But the weapons and equipment which enable national defence and internal security can also be used aggressively against other states, and for internal repression. Yesterday's ally of convenience can become today's enemy. Future generations must not have cause to regret equipment supplied today to allies in the war against terror.

2. Materials and technologies which can be used to manufacture weapons of mass destruction must be kept out of the hands of states and potential terrorist groups seeking to develop capabilities in this area. But at the same time, many of these materials and technologies have legitimate civilian uses, which it is not always reasonable or practical to restrict. The defence industries have an important role in the prosperity and security of the country which the Government is right to promote. But strong and effective regulation is necessary to ensure that they remain a force for security, not a cause of instability.

3. The purpose of a strategic export control regime is to steer a course between these often conflicting considerations.

4. Since April 1999, the Defence, Foreign Affairs, International Development and Trade and Industry Committees have regularly met together to consider the arms export control regime—an arrangement which has become known as the "Quadripartite Committee". Our first joint Report in the current Parliament was published in July 2001.[1] That Report contains detailed background information on the history of the "Quadripartite Committee", explains the mechanics of the Government's licensing process for strategic exports and describes the Consolidated Criteria against which the Government assesses licence applications.[2]

5. The Government's Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls have been the focus of much of the Committees' work. The first Annual Report (for 1997) was published in March 1999. The most recently published Annual Report, that for 2001, was published in July 2002.[3] Although this inquiry has centred around the 2001 Annual Report, we have also taken more recent developments into account.

6. In the course of this inquiry, we have sought extensive written clarification from the Government (much of it classified) on information in the 2001 Annual Report. Although we are constrained in how we can use classified information in a public document, our aim is to be as open as possible. The unclassified information we have received from the Government is published as evidence with this Report.[4] We are also publishing written submissions that we have received from a variety of sources.[5] We are grateful to those who have supplied this material.

7. On 27 February we took oral evidence from the Foreign Secretary, some of it in private. We are publishing with this Report the transcript of the public session, and most of the transcript of the private session, leaving out only those sections which the Government has asked us not to publish for reasons of confidentiality.[6]

8. This Report follows fairly closely the template set by previous inquiries. We look in turn at:

  • the conduct of the inquiry itself, and its implications for our scrutiny of the Government,
  • individual cases arising from the 2001 Annual Report, both where we can give reassurance that licences have been properly granted and where we continue to have concerns,
  • more general policy issues,
  • the format and content of the Government's Annual Reports, and
  • the administration of the licensing system.



1   Defence, Foreign Affairs, International Development and Trade and Industry Committees, First Joint Report of Session 2001-02, Strategic Export Controls: Annual Report for 2000, Licensing Policy and Prior Parliamentary Scrutiny, HC 718 Back

2   HC (2001-02) 718, paras 5-31 Back

3   Ministry of Defence, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department of Trade and Industry, Strategic Export Controls: Annual Report 2001, Cm 5559, July 2002 (henceforth, "2001 Annual Report") Back

4   Ev 21-35 Back

5   Ev 17-20, 38-47 Back

6   Ev 1-16 Back


 
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