To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why EU sanctions against Uzbekistan were omitted from the list of sanctions regimes in the written ministerial statement of 6 November 2006, Official Report, columns 27-8WS, on sanctions regimes. (100581)

We regret that Uzbekistan was inadvertently omitted from the written ministerial statement issued by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Middle East on 6 November 2006, Official Report, columns 27-28WS. At the time the statement was submitted the EU’s sanctions against Uzbekistan were under review. Subsequently, the EU agreed to extend the arms embargo for a further 12 months and the visa ban for a further six months, and to review these measures in three months’ time. A revised written ministerial statement reflecting UK implementation of the Uzbekistan sanctions was issued on 8 November 2006, Official Report, column 43WS.