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Iraq: Export Licence System

On 11 October 2004, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Jack Straw) announced in a written ministerial statement, Official Report, column 3WS, that, upon receipt of an application to export arms or related materiel to an end user not explicitly exempt from the embargo, the Government will seek certification on a case-by-case basis from the Government of Iraq or the multinational force. The certification is to ensure that the proposed export is required by the Government of Iraq or the multinational force to serve the purposes of Resolution 1546 and is therefore exempted from the embargo. A certification process has been established with the Government of Iraq. Following consultation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Trade and Industry recently made four exceptions to this procedure and issued licences in advance of receipt of certification from the Government of Iraq. All licences were for equipment to be used by a private security company to protect election monitors and ballot boxes for the Iraqi referendum. Equipment concerned included: armoured vehicles, body armour, military helmets, smoke grenades, mini signal flares, stun grenades and six machine guns. The Government received certification for the licences after they were issued.