Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he plans to take to regulate arms exports in line with international (a) legal and (b) human rights obligations; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of new international regulations over goods that could be used for torture.

All export licences are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. Criterion 1 requires us to comply with the UK’s international commitments and obligations (including our treaty obligations), and Criterion 2 requires us specifically to determine if there is a clear risk that the exported items might be used to commit or facilitate internal repression, including torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, or to commit or facilitate violations of international humanitarian law. The Government will not grant an export licence if doing so would be inconsistent with the Criteria.

We keep all extant licences under regular review and have suspended licences where concerns that they may violate the criteria have emerged. The UK also continues to work internationally to improve the robustness of international arms transfers and human rights assessments, with the goal of bringing them to the highest possible standards.