A review of the use to which the MSP equipment transferred from the UK in previous years had been put, including relevant information regarding compliance with any of the restrictions in regard to MSP equipment, services or training and destinations outlined above. A breakdown of what the Government has done during the year to advance ethical foreign policies, and an account of the cost-effectiveness of this activity. An agreed common format should be adopted by all EU Member States, so that a collective EU register can be compiled which incorporates all the information available in the individual member states, annual or biannual reports. This European Register of Arms Exports, which would cover all small arms, ammunition, and associated training, should be debated by the European Parliament with a view to continuously assessing the effectiveness of the existing control regime to meet the collective objectives of the agreed EU criteria governing the code of conduct. The Scott Report drew attention to the possibility that the current export-licensing process may be affected by the fact that the DTI is responsible for both promoting and restricting exports.
Export controls are unquestionably an obstacle standing in the way of exporters.
Export controls may, and do, serve a variety of purposes of importance to the FCO or to the MoD or, indeed, to the government as a whole. This could create an even greater conflict of interest than may currently arise from the DTI's general trade-promotion function. Similar conflicts of interests had been identified in the United States as far back as 1982. In order to avoid such conflicts of interest, Oxfam recommends the establishment of an independent agency with responsibility for both Export Licence applications and enforcement of export-control legislation. This approach would avoid the problem of conflicting interests, since the prime responsibility for overall control and enforcement would be located in one independent agency, which did not have a contradictory promotional role.