MEPs to strengthen EU export ban on “torture goods”
New EU rules to prevent trade in goods and services that may contribute to torture or execution will be debated and put to a vote on Tuesday. In negotiations with member states on previous drafts, the European Parliament inserted a ban on the marketing and transit of equipment used for cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of people in third countries.
Background
A key EU tool for fighting torture and the death penalty is the 2005 Regulation imposing restrictions on trade. This bans the export of goods which have no other practical use than execution or torture (e.g. electric chairs, automatic drug injection systems or spiked thumbscrews) and controls trade in products that have been designed for other purposes, but could be used for torture or execution (e.g. weapons designed for riot control, or certain anaesthetics used in lethal injections).
Despite achieving some results, the Regulation has been criticised for loopholes that allowed trade or brokering and advertising of such goods to continue. Responding to a 2010 Parliament resolution, the Commission adopted a legislative proposal to amend the Regulation in 2014. Parliament’s International Trade Committee proposed several amendments to further restrict the trade. The final compromise, adopted in three-way talks with the EU Commission and ministers, reflects most of the committee’s proposals, and needs now to be confirmed by Parliament as a whole. .
Procedure: Ordinary legislative procedure
Debate: Tuesday, October 4
Vote: Tuesday, October 4
Press conference: Tuesday, October 4 at 15.30 with Commissioner Cecilia Malmström
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