The Secretary of
State for Business today announced a series of measures on UK
export licensing designed to make the system more transparent and
to allow for the immediate suspension of export licences to
countries that experience a sharp deterioration in security or
stability.
These proposals build on the Foreign Secretary’s recent review of
defence and security export policy conducted in the light of
events in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Secretary of State for Business, Vince Cable, said:
"We take our export control responsibilities very
seriously. The UK operates one of the most rigorous arms export
control regimes in the world. All licences that we issue or refuse
are made public, however we appreciate the need for more detail to
be available on the work we do.
“The Foreign Secretary announced in his recent review of arms
exports that there were no fundamental flaws with the export
licensing system. We share this view. However, the review did
identify some areas where our system could be further
strengthened, so I am pleased that we are able to work closely
together to bring about these changes.”
The Foreign Secretary William Hague said:
“I am pleased to report that the new suspension mechanism for UK
defence exports is now in place. The FCO and BIS have worked
closely together to develop it. This new measure will ensure that
export licensing policy is more responsive to rapidly changing
circumstances overseas. In light of recent events in the Middle
East and North Africa, this is now more important than ever.
“Suspension will not be invoked automatically or lightly, but
triggered when conflict or crisis conditions suddenly increase the
level of risk, or make conducting a proper risk assessment
difficult. We will conduct these assessments on a case by case
basis, in the same way that we do whenever issuing a licence.”
The suspension mechanism will allow for the immediate suspension
of pending licence applications to countries experiencing a sharp
deterioration in security or stability. This will mean that
licences pending approval will be ‘paused’ for a defined period.
The Government will notify exporters, Parliament and the media
when this has happened.
The transparency proposals are to:
· Insert a provision into open export licences requiring the
exporter to report periodically on transactions. Government will
then publish this information.
· Explore ways in which more information could be published on
standard export licences. Currently, all applications for these
licences are made in confidence so the Government plans to explore
ways in which more details can be made public while protecting any
sensitive material.
· Appoint an independent person to scrutinize the Export Control
Organisation’s licensing process. The role of this independent
auditor would be to confirm that the process is being followed
correctly and report on their work at regular intervals.
In considering these proposals, the Government will speak to
various interested parties, including exporters and
non-governmental organisations. The Business Secretary intends to
make a further announcement before the summer recess, setting out
the Government’s conclusions and plans for implementing any
further changes.
Notes to Editors
1. WRITTEN MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
RT HON DR VINCE CABLE, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR
BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS.
STRATEGIC EXPORT LICENSING
7 FEBRUARY 2012
My Rt Hon Friend the Foreign Secretary (William Hague) announced
to the House on 13 October 2011 the conclusions of his Review of
defence and security export policy in the light of events in the
Middle East and North Africa.
It concluded that there were no fundamental flaws with the UK
strategic export licensing system. We share this view. However,
the review did identify areas where our system could be further
strengthened. To this end, he announced a package of proposals
that included the introduction of a mechanism to allow the
immediate suspension of pending licence applications to countries
experiencing a sharp deterioration in security or stability, and a
commitment to continue to work to improve public information on
defence & security exports, including enhanced
transparency of routine export licensing decisions and how we
respond during a crisis.
We have worked closely in developing the suspension mechanism,
and are pleased to report that this suspension mechanism is now in
place. As a result of this change the Government has ensured that
export licensing policy is now more responsive to rapidly changing
circumstances overseas.
The new suspension mechanism will allow the Government to quickly
suspend the processing of pending licence applications to
countries experiencing a sharp deterioration in security or
stability. Suspension will not be invoked automatically or
lightly, but triggered for example when conflict or crisis
conditions change the risk suddenly, or make conducting a proper
risk assessment difficult. A case by case assessment of a
particular situation will be necessary to determine whether a
licensing suspension is appropriate.
Any decision to suspend will be taken by the Licensing Authority
based on advice from relevant Government departments and reporting
from our diplomatic Posts. Parliament, Industry and the media will
be informed of any suspension.
Suspension will be tailored to the circumstances in play and will
not necessarily apply to all export licence applications to a
country, but may instead be for applications for particular
equipment (e.g. crowd control goods), or for applications for
equipment going to a particular end-user.
If a decision to suspend is made, work on licence applications in
the pipeline will be stopped and no further licences issued
pending Ministerial review. Once the suspension is lifted,
applications will not be required to be resubmitted.
The Ministry of Defence will apply any licensing suspension
decision to MOD Form 680 applications, for which it is the
Government authority, and to the assessment against the
Consolidated Criteria of gifting cases, which it co-ordinates on
behalf of the Government.
Suspension will be lifted (or partially lifted) where the
Licensing Authority considers it appropriate to do so.
Transparency is also crucial because confidence in the workings
of the export licensing system needs to be shared by Parliament
and by the public. The system should not just be working properly;
it should also be seen to do so.
I am therefore announcing today a number of proposals to improve
the transparency of the export licensing system. These proposals
build on my Rt hon Friend’s Review, and we intend to seek the
views of interested parties, including the representatives of
exporters and non-governmental organisations, on how they will
work.
The first proposal is to insert into all open export licences a
provision requiring the exporter to report periodically on
transactions undertaken under these licences. The Government will
then publish this information.
The second proposal concerns information contained in standard
export licence applications. Currently all such applications are
made in confidence, which makes it difficult to make public any
more information than is already disclosed in the
Government's Annual and Quarterly Reports. The Export
Control Organisation considers that certain additional information
contained in licence applications could be made public without
causing concern to exporters. I will explore ways of making this
additional information public while protecting any sensitive material.
The third proposal is to appoint an independent person to
scrutinise the operation of the Export Control Organisation’s
licensing process. The role of this independent person would be to
confirm that the process is indeed being followed correctly and
report on their work.
In considering these proposals we intend to consult the various
interested parties to reach an outcome which achieves the
Government’s objective of increased transparency while at the same
time imposing the minimum additional burden on exporters.
We will, simultaneously, be pursuing further changes to the
strategic licensing system to make it more efficient and
customer-focused, whilst maintaining the integrity of the process.
Working together, my Rt hon Friend and I remain committed to
robust and effective national and global controls to help prevent
exports that could undermine our own security or core values of
human rights and democracy; to protect our security through
strategic defence relationships; and to promote our prosperity by
allowing British defence and security industries to operate
effectively in the global defence market.
I intend to make a further announcement to Parliament, setting
out the Government’s conclusions and plans for implementing any
further changes, before the summer recess.
2. The Export Control Organisation publishes details of export
licences issued and refused at http://www.exportcontroldb.bis.gov.uk
3. General and comprehensive information on the export licensing
process can be found at: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/exportcontrol
4. BIS's online newsroom contains the latest press
notices, speeches, as well as video and images for download. It
also features an up to date list of BIS press office contacts. See
http://www.bis.gov.uk/newsroom for more information.
Contacts:
BIS Press Office
NDS.BIS@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Lucy Bell
Phone: 020 7215 5361
Lucy.Bell@bis.gsi.gov.uk