Arms Trade

(asked on 19th October 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what safeguards are in place to ensure that arms sold by the UK to other countries are not used on civilian populations.


This question was answered on 2nd November 2020

British arms sales are subject to an export licence. All export licence applications are assessed against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria (the ‘Consolidated Criteria’).

The Consolidated Criteria take into account our obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty and other relevant rules of international law. They provide a thorough risk assessment framework and require us to think hard about the possible impact of providing equipment and its capabilities.

HM Government will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the Consolidated Criteria.

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