Trade etc. in Dual-Use Items and Firearms etc. (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Rona Fairhead (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I am pleased to open this debate on the Trade etc. in Dual-Use Items and Firearms etc. (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. These regulations do a very serious job. Without them, existing European Union law will not be effective in UK domestic law on the day we exit the EU, a vital part of our long-term planning since Royal Assent of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act The regulations include amendments that will allow the UK to maintain those EU laws that control exports of items with both military and civil uses. They will control the export of civilian firearms of the type used by hunters and sports shooters. If we do not retain and amend this legislation, we will no longer control the export of such potentially dangerous items. This will put the United Kingdom in breach of international agreements which require we impose these controls and which prevent military equipment falling into the hands of those who intend this country harm. They also prevent or disrupt the proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons and play a key part in promoting global security by controlling the strategic goods that leave our shores The exit-related legislation provides the necessary legislative building blocks to ensure readiness on exit day. The EU withdrawal Act enables a functioning statute book on exit day by providing Ministers with the tools to deal with deficiencies in domestic law arising as a result of our exit from the EU, so it is right and proper that we use it for matters such as export controls By making this regulation and the associated Export Control (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, the department will have completed much of the legislative part of controlling the export of strategic goods in preparation for a no-deal Brexit. If this regulation is no longer required on exit day, we would expect to revoke or end it. Alternatively, commencement could be deferred to the end of an implementation period Broadly, all the provisions applying to exports from the EU customs territory today will instead apply to exports from the UK. However, leaving the EU will mean that the rules will have to change, and we cannot guarantee that all the export licensing requirements that UK exporters are familiar with will remain the same. For this reason, the Government have made every effort to provide certainty for businesses and the public wherever possible. We have published a new general export licence, which provides for the export of dual-use items to all European Union member states and the Channel Islands. In August, we published a technical notice on export controls, which explained our plans for post-EU exit export control licensing. We have also included EU exit advice, both in the export control training programme and at the annual export control symposium, as well as giving extensive advice to key sector trade associations The House should be aware that the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments has reported the draft regulations on the grounds that they require elucidation in one respect and were defectively drafted in three respects. On the first point, we provided the committee with an explanation of why the transfer of technology by electronic means to the Isle of Man is considered to be an export whereas the physical movement of goods is not. This is a consequence of our customs arrangements with the Isle of Man and is consistent with our controls on military goods and technology. On the other three points raised by the Joint Committee, we have acknowledged that these are drafting errors that we will correct in the near future by laying a further SI, which corrects the drafting. We are very grateful for the diligent work of the committee, and I am happy to confirm that none of those errors affects the proper functioning of the regulations I hope that this House will work in the interests of our nation to ensure the passage of this legislation, which we believe is essential to ensuring that we are prepared for EU exit. I beg to move.