Committee publication · Correspondence · 7 July 2026
Letter from the Minister for Trade relating to export licensing, 26 June 2026
From: Business and Trade Sub-Committee on Economic Security, Arms and Export Controls
Summary
Minister for Trade Sir Chris Bryant responds to the Business and Trade Committee's June questions on export licensing priorities. He addresses transparency of export licensing data, explaining improvements to quarterly publication timelines and ongoing work with HMRC to make licence usage data more accessible. He also responds to committee concerns about diversion risks to Sudan via the UAE and licensing decisions regarding Israel and Gaza.
Key findings
- Export licensing publication lag has improved from 8.5 months (2024) to 4 months; ECJU is working with HMRC to create new systems making aggregated licence usage data suitable for publication.
- No UK weapons have been identified as diverted to Sudan either via UAE or other means; UK maintains Sudan arms embargo and uses all available enforcement mechanisms.
- Criterion 7 (diversion risk assessment) accounts for the single greatest number of licence refusals globally; Criterion 6 is not typically applicable to most UAE licence refusals.
- Military licences to Israel have been suspended where items might be used in Gaza operations (announced 2 September 2024); remaining military licences are under continuous review.
- Net increase in non-suspended extant licence values to Israel reflects £92m increase in non-military licences (including £68m cystic fibrosis medication licence) offset by £62m decrease in re-export licences.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Sir Chris Bryant MP, Liam Byrne MP, Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU), Department for Business and Trade (DBT), Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Ministry of Defence (MOD), HMRC
Notable line
“… no UK weapons have, either indirectly via the UAE or through other means, been identified as having been diverted to Sudan.”
Key Quotes
“Transparency is one of my priorities for the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU), and as I noted in April, my steer remains for DBT to publish what it can, whilst being mindful of the very real commercial sensitivities of the data entrusted to us by UK exporters.”
“… since July 2024, this Government has prioritised ensuring quarterly statistical publications are published in a timelier fashion. Whilst there had in 2024 been a time lag of 8.5 months between a quarter ending and statistics being publicly available, the last publication saw a lag of only 4 months.”
“… it is essential to underline that no UK weapons have, either indirectly via the UAE or through other means, been identified as having been diverted to Sudan.”
“Criterion 7. It is under this criterion that the single greatest number of licences are refused globally.”
“… we continue to refuse licence applications to Israel where the items might be used in military operations in Gaza, on the basis of the Govern ment's posi tion announced to Parliament on 2 September”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗