Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has previously established a country-specific cell similar to the International Humanitarian Law Compliance Assessment Process Cell.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Cell's approach to assessment of IHL compliance by Israel is informed by a methodology adopted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office following a request by the Campaign Against Arms Trade in 2017 for a judicial review of export licensing decisions for Saudi Arabia during the conflict in Yemen.
I refer the honourable member for Hodge Hill to the then Secretary of State for International Trade's statement of 7 July 2020 following the High Court judgment on military export licences to Saudi Arabia [Volume 678:Column 32-34WS].
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the Export Control Joint Unit reviews urgent trade sanctions licence applications in a timely manner.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
In making decisions on whether to grant a licence to permit something otherwise prohibited by sanctions legislation & regulations, the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU), comprised of subject matter experts and officials in the Department for Business and Trade, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the Ministry of Defence, acts on behalf of the Secretary of State. ECJU is obligated to consider applications on a case-by-case basis, determining whether granting a licence would be consistent with the stated purposes of the sanctions regime, licensing grounds, and United Nations or international law obligations.
When assessing applications ECJU also consults and considers views from a range of other government departments.
May. 30 2024
Source Page: South Africa: UK Science and Innovation Network summaryFound: From: Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Published 14 November
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the Export Control Joint Unit reviews urgent trade sanctions license applications in a timely manner.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
In making decisions on whether to grant a licence to permit something otherwise prohibited by sanctions legislation & regulations, the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU), comprised of subject matter experts and officials in the Department for Business and Trade, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the Ministry of Defence, acts on behalf of the Secretary of State. ECJU is obligated to consider applications on a case-by-case basis, determining whether granting a licence would be consistent with the stated purposes of the sanctions regime, licensing grounds, and United Nations or international law obligations. When assessing applications ECJU also consults and considers views from a range of other government departments.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to Q639 of the oral evidence given by the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 9 January 2024, HC 325, and to paragraph 50 of the summary grounds of the Secretary of State in the case of The King (on the application of Al-Haq) v. Secretary of State for Business and Trade, AC-2023-LON-003634, for what reason the Secretary of State said to the Committee that his role was not to make a legal adjudication on whether Israel had breached international humanitarian law.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We regularly review advice about Israel's capability and commitment to International Humanitarian Law and act in accordance with that advice, including in relation to arms exports. The Foreign Secretary's role is to advise the Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) on certain Criteria in the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, including whether there is a clear risk that controlled goods exported under a licence might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of IHL, and it is for the Secretary of State at DBT to act in light of that advice.
Correspondence Apr. 24 2024
Committee: Foreign Affairs Committee (Department: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)Found: From the Chair Alicia Kearns MP The Rt Hon Lord Cameron Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth
Apr. 23 2024
Source Page: EM on the UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (COM(2024)127)Found: EM on the UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (COM(2024)127)
Mar. 26 2024
Source Page: Ministerial Appointments: 26 March 2024Found: following appointments: Nus Ghani MP to be a Minister of State (Minister for Europe) in the Foreign, Commonwealth
May. 14 2024
Source Page: Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade – Amendments to Annex III [TS No.28/2024]Found: the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade
May. 02 2024
Source Page: UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, UK Domestic Advisory Group: 2024 to 2025 priorities reportFound: UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, UK Domestic Advisory Group: 2024 to 2025 priorities report