Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-04-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they ensure that the government of Saudi Arabia complies with the regulatory regime established under the Export Control Act 2002, in particular in respect of arms used in Yemen and supplied by the UK.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The British Government considers each export licence application on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of relevant factors at the time of application. The Criteria implement the UK’s obligations under the Export Control Act 2002. This includes an assessment of Criterion 2c (whether there is a clear risk that the proposed exports might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law (IHL)).
A licence will not be issued for export of items to any country, including Saudi Arabia, if to do so would be inconsistent with any mandatory provision of the Criteria, including where we assess there is a clear risk that the items might be used in the commission of a serious violation of IHL. The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the Criteria.
