Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to coordinate potential economic sanctions by the EU against the military in Burma with similar sanctions being considered by the US Administration.

The EU and US both retain arms embargoes on Burma. The Foreign Secretary secured agreement at the October EU Foreign Affairs Council to consider additional measures if the situation in Rakhine did not improve. In a press statement on 22 November the US Secretary of State spoke of the US possibly imposing targeted sanctions on Burma. The UK will discuss with EU partners and the US whether further sanctions are required following the UN Secretary-General's 12 December report to the UN Security Council on progress since the 6 November UN Security Council Presidential Statement.