Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the oral statement of her predecessor on 12 January 2021 on Xinjiang: Forced Labour, what progress has been made on the urgent review of export controls as they apply, specifically geographically, to the situation in Xinjiang; and whether changes have been introduced as a result of that review.

On 8 December the Secretary of State for International Trade informed Parliament of a package of measures to update the UK's export control regime. This included an enhancement to the military end-use control that will allow HM Government to better address threats to national security, international peace and security, and human rights arising from the use of otherwise non-controlled items. The changes will also address a long-standing inconsistency within the UK's export control regime by adding China to the list of destinations subject to military end-use controls. Taken together, these changes will strengthen our ability to prevent exports that might be used directly or indirectly to facilitate human rights violations in all destinations subject to military end-use controls. It also completes the export control review announced to Parliament on 12 January 2021 by the then Foreign Secretary.