Government accused of allowing arms manufacturers to export in secret
The Government is today accused by MPs of attempting to mask the scale of Britain’s arms trade by actively encouraging manufacturers to sell weaponry under an opaque procedure which keeps the value of exports out of the public domain.
Under a little-noticed shift in Britain’s policy governing sales of weapons and other sensitive equipment, exporters are being asked to seek “open” licences which allow multiple consignments to be sent to the same destinations abroad without the value of the goods being publicly declared.
The Parliamentary watchdog on arms sales strongly criticised the move, saying it will “inescapably reduce the transparency” of Britain’s arms exports and increase the risk that rules to halt inappropriate sales will be broken.
The annual report by the Committees on Arms Export Controls (CAEC) reveals that the UK sold arms more than £5bn to countries on the Government’s own human rights black list and questions whether ministers are imposing adequate controls on weapons being sent to authoritarian regimes.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/government-accused-of-allowing-arms-manufacturers-to-export-in-secret-10120718.html
