Genomics: National Security

(asked on 22nd March 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the US Department of Commerce adding two subsidiaries of BGI Group to its export blacklist, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of UK legislation for taking similar measures in the genomics sector; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of undertaking a review of the adequacy of protections for British technology and goods from companies linked to the Chinese military.


Answered by
Nigel Huddleston Portrait
Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 30th March 2023

HM Government is satisfied that the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria announced in the Written Statement of 8 December 2021, HCWS449, provide a thorough risk assessment framework for assessing all export licence applications, including the capacity of items to be misused in ways that could be used to commit human rights abuses.

Reticulating Splines