Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, to which countries the UK exports (a) rubber bullets, (b) riot shields and (c) tear gas.

The Government publishes Official Statistics (on a quarterly and annual basis) about export licences granted, refused and revoked to all destinations on GOV.UK. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.

The data currently provides details of licences up to 31 December 2019. Information about the period 1 January to 31 March 2020 will be published on 14 July 2020 and data covering the period 1 April to 30 September 2020 will be published in October 2020.

All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria (‘Consolidated Criteria’). In reaching a decision, the Department for International Trade receives advice from a number of Departments including the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Together, we draw on all available information, including reports from NGOs and our diplomatic missions. The Consolidated Criteria provides a thorough risk assessment framework and requires us to think hard about the impact of licensing any equipment for export. These are not decisions my Department takes lightly, and we will not license the export of items where to do so would be inconsistent with the Consolidated Criteria.