[NYTr] 'Gaps' in arms exports controls

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

BBC - Aug 8, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6932923.stm


'Gaps' in arms exports controls

Laws controlling arms exports are not being enforced strictly enough, 
with weapons too often falling into the wrong hands, MPs have said. 

The Commons Quadripartite Committee said recent years had seen 
improvements in regulation of arms exports.

But it urged the government to "plug the holes in the controls", and 
called for closer monitoring of arms fairs.

The committee recommended that all UK residents and British citizens 
abroad need a licence for weapons trading.

The committee made 96 recommendations and conclusions in its report
into the review of the government strategic exports legislation,
carried out by the now-renamed Department for Trade and Industry.

"The committee calls on the government to use the review to plug the 
holes in the controls on arms exported from the UK and to keep a tight 
grip on those trafficking and brokering arms between countries outside 
the UK," it said.

The committee heard from journalist Mark Thomas, who said he had seen 
electronic stun guns, used for torture, openly exhibited at an arms
fair in Birmingham last year.

Committee chairman Roger Berry said: "We have serious concerns about 
arms fairs held in the UK.

"We need to see HM Revenue and Customs attending more of these events - 
physically patrolling during opening hours, inspecting the goods being 
displayed and putting difficult questions to those on stalls to ensure 
that export controls are not being breached."

The committee said the Sentencing Guidelines Council should review 
sentences for those who break the controls.

Mr Berry said that penalties ranging from a warning letter to 10 years 
in jail "lack a strong deterrent".

He added: "In serious cases it can be very difficult to obtain evidence 
from abroad to put before the British courts and those cases that go to 
court can result in fines worth only a fraction of the goods seized."

The committee said a system of licences for all UK weapons traders 
should be introduced - currently, a licence is only required for trade 
in certain arms, such as long-range missiles.

The MPs also predicted that terrorist threats and the changing way 
weapons of mass destruction were procured could lead to regular 
amendments to arms export law.

Overseas production

Among the gaps identified by the committee was overseas production of 
arms under agreement with a UK company or where a UK company was the 
parent company.

The committee said it wanted legislation to prevent such arms being 
exported to countries where the UK would not licence them.

"The current controls over licensed production overseas are inadequate 
and need to be extended to cover not just products with an easily 
recognisable military end use," Mr Berry said.

He highlighted the example of Turkish supplied and built Land Rover 
Defender vehicles being used in the Andijan massacre in Uzbekistan in
2005.

Re-exports

The committee was also concerned about "re-exporting" where arms 
exported from the UK were then sold on to countries under an embargo, 
often years later.

The committee said several non-governmental organisations had reported 
the proposed transfer to Burma of a military helicopter containing 
components and technology from as many as six European Union countries, 
including the UK, that threatens to undermine an EU arms embargo on
Burma.

It said re-exporting should be prevented.

A register of arms brokers should also be established so that they meet 
defined standards, as well as deterring people with certain criminal 
convictions from applying.