Arms Trade
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the legislation enabling domestic firearms companies to sell firearms to Europe.
Answered by Mr Douglas Alexander
Exports of firearms are controlled by the Export Control Order 2008 and Regulation (EU) No 258/2012. Only once an export licence has been issued can the export proceed.
We rigorously assess every application on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria, the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (SELC). The SELC provide a thorough risk assessment framework for export licence applications and require us to carefully consider the impact of providing equipment and its capabilities. We will not license the export of equipment where to do so would be inconsistent with the SELC.
The SELC were announced to Parliament on 8 December 2021 by the then International Trade Secretary. The full written ministerial statement can be found at: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2021-12-08/hcws449.
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