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Coll 7/20 'System of licensing exports of arms and ammunition' [41r] (81/194)
The record is made up of 1 file (97 folios). It was created in 13 Apr 1933-14 Jul 1938. It was written in English and Portuguese. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
REPORT.
I.—Introduction.
Terms of Reference.
1. WE were appointed by the Principal Supply Officers Committee at its
54th Meeting on the 15th March, 1933, as a Sub-Committee, with the following
terms of reference :—
“ To consider the present system of licensing exports of arms,
ammunition and other materials to which the Arms Export Prohibition
Order, 1931, applies and to report what modifications, if any, are, in their
view, desirable, having regard to—
(a) the interests of the Fighting Services; and
(b) the competitive position of the United Kingdom firms in obtaining
orders from foreign countries.”
Constitution.
2. The Sub-Committee as constituted consisted of representatives of the
Foreign Office, Home Office, Admiralty, War Office, Air Ministry, Board of
Trade and Department of Overseas Trade.
3. In considering our terms of reference we have noted the conclusion of
the Principal Supply Officers Committee in their Report on the position of the
private armaments industry in Imperial Defence (P.S.O. 366) that a steady
supplv of foreign orders is necessary if the armament firms in the United
Kingdom are to have an adequate potential capacity for production in war. That
Committee also express the opinion in the same Report that the existence of an
effective control over the export of arms and the fear that an embargo on export
may be imposed by His Majesty’s Government at a time when arms are most
required, has led foreign Governments to place their orders elsewhere.
Origin.
II.— Powers.
4. The present powers to regulate the export of arms from the United
Kingdom are derived from Section 8 of the Customs and Inland Revenue Act,
1879, as amended and extended by Section 1 of the Exportation of Arms Act, 1900,
and Section 17 of the Finance Act, 1921. This legislation repeated and expanded
much older legislation. The text of the more important provisions is given in
Appendix (A).
Effect and Scope.
5. The combined effect of the provisions of 1879 and 1921 is to give power to
prohibit by Proclamation or Order-in-Council the export or coastwise shipment
of weapons and munitions of war of every description, and also of firearms not
being weapons of war and ammunition for such firearms.
6. The legislation of 1900 gives power to prohibit by Proclamation the
exportation of arms to any specified country or place “ in order to prevent such
arms, ammunition, military or naval stores being used against Her Majesty’s
subjects or forces or against any forces engaged or which may be engaged in
military or naval operations in co-operation with Her Majesty’s forces.”* Thus
power to prohibit export to a specified country can be used only when hostilities
involving this country are in existence or are threatened; at other times any
prohibition must be general in its scope, and exports to a particular destination
can be controlled only by means of a licensing system.
Warships.
7. There is now special legislation dealing with warships. Bv Section 1
of the Treaties of Washington Act, 1922, it is prohibited to buila, equip, or
despatch any vessel of war without a licence from the Admiralty, but there is a
* These powers were intended primarily to prevent the export of arms and ammunition to
the Boxer insurgents in China. Immediately after the Act came into force, however, the Boxer
rising was suppressed; and apparently no proclamation prohibiting the export of arms to China
was actually issued.
[8664] B 2
About this item
- Content
The file contains minutes, correspondence and reports regarding changes made by the British Government to the system for licensing the export of arms and ammunition to foreign countries. The India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. participated in the process to ensure that requests from the Governments of Afghanistan and Nepal would be referred via the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. before approval.
The file consists of correspondence between the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Political Department, Major Neville Godfray Hind of the Committee of Imperial Defence, the Foreign Office, and the Board of Trade Import and Export Licensing Section. The potential advantages and disadvantages of the proposed open licence system are discussed, as are India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. concerns that a change to an open system would make it difficult to regulate the purchase of arms by Afghanistan and Nepal, and could pose a threat to the security of India.
The file also contains the following minutes and reports:
- minutes of the first and second meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence Principal Supply Officers Committee, Sub-Committee on System of Licensing Exports of Arms and Ammunition, ff 74-96;
- the final report of the above Sub-Committee, ff 40-51;
- a copy of the Anglo-Afghan Treaty (1921), ff 56-60;
- a copy of the Cabinet Minutes 70(33), 20 December 1933, ff 24-27;
- notes on a meeting held at the Board of Trade on 29 December 1933, ff 17-22;
- and a 'List of selected firms and Service Departments which will acquaint them of the new procedure', f 12.
The file also contains a small amount of correspondence dated 1938, regarding a request from the Government of Portuguese India for ammunition to be supplied by a British firm.
The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (folio 1).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (97 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in rough chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 97; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
- Written in
- English and Portuguese in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2188
- Title
- Coll 7/20 'System of licensing exports of arms and ammunition'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:6v, 8r:55v, 61r:96v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence