Strategic Export Controls: Annual Report

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman)
The 2005 annual report on strategic export controls will be published today as a Command Paper. Copies will be placed in the Library of the House. The report describes UK policy and international developments in export control regimes, as well as information on export licensing decisions taken during 2005.

The annual report on strategic export controls is an innovation of this Government. This report, the ninth annual report (the first report was published in 1997), is a step away from the traditional reports of the past. Our export licensing system is one of the most rigorous and transparent regimes in the world and the annual report, in this new format, symbolises our continued commitment to accountability and transparency by presenting detailed information in a more modern and user-friendly format. This year, due to the increasing volume of information on strategic exports that is being published by the Government, all the statistical data that were historically published only in hard copy are now made available on a CD-ROM which accompanies the report. Since 2004, the Government have also produced detailed quarterly reports available on the internet, ensuring that the UK provides some of the most open and timely export licensing information available anywhere. The new CD-ROM includes the quarterly reports for 2005, as well as more consolidated data, information on licence refusals and fuller information on trade control (trafficking and brokering) licences issued during 2005. The complete report will be available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website and published through The Stationery Office.