Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 December 2021, HCWS449, on Trade Policy Update, what recent assessment she has made of the need for businesses to conduct due diligence on supply chains in China to stop exported items being used in internal repression or serious violations of international humanitarian law.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Written Statement of 8 December 2021, HCWS449, sets out the assessment criteria to be applied to licence applications for exports of controlled goods. It announced HM Government’s intention to legislate to expand the scope of control over goods intended for use by the military, police and security forces in an embargoed destination and to add China to the list of embargoed destinations. HM Government supports the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the international framework which sets out steps to guide businesses on voluntary human rights due diligence to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for impacts on human rights.