Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proposals in the report by John Deverell for Oxfam A Process for Arms Exports: Fulfilling Criterion 2C of the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licencing Criteria, published on 6 February.

The Government has been made aware of the contents of the report published on 6 February by John Deverell for Oxfam entitled A Process for Arms Exports: Fulfilling Criterion 2C of the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licencing Criteria, and has noted them fully. The Government has some of the most stringent exports rules in the world and will not issue an export licence where it considers there is a clear risk that the goods might be used in the commission of a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law. We already draw on a range of sources in making assessments, including from non-governmental organisations and international organisations, and welcome any further information or proposals they choose to provide.