The Restricted Enforcement Unit (REU) is an expert-level committee set up in 1987 by the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

to control

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

s of military technology from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, in particular the illegal export or trade of

conventional weapon The terms conventional weapons or conventional arms generally refer to weapons whose ability to damage comes from kinetic, incendiary, or explosive energy and exclude weapons of mass destruction (''e.g.'' nuclear, biological, radiological and c ...

ry and

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natura ...

not licensed for export by the Department of Trade and Industry. The committee assesses and acts on intelligence of attempted, planned or accomplished breaches of UK export controls on sensitive items or technology to "countries of concern". It co-ordinates seizure or blocking of such materiel via its member departments.

Committee structure

The REU committee meets fortnightly, and is chaired by the Department of Trade and Industry. The REU includes representatives from the following government departments and intelligence agencies: *The

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

*The

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

His Majesty's Revenue and Customs , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = HM Revenue & Customs.svg , logocaption = , badge = , badgecaption = , flag = , flagcaption = , image_size = , co ...

(formerly His Majesty's Customs and Excise) *The Security Service (

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Go ...

) *The

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

(MI6) *

Government Communications Headquarters Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Un ...

(GCHQ)

Known cases

*The REU heard evidence of the involvement of British companies in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

's attempt to construct a

supergun * for large military guns see Large-calibre artillery * for the arcade game equipment see SuperGun * the Iraq "Supergun affair" (a contemporary of Arms-to-Iraq The Arms-to-Iraq affair concerned the uncovering of the government-endorsed sale of ar ...

Project Babylon Project Babylon was a space gun project commissioned by then Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. It involved building a series of " superguns". The design was based on research from the 1960s Project HARP led by the Canadian artillery expert Gerald ...

, and co-ordinated the seizure of parts for the gun.

References

Foreign relations of the United Kingdom Foreign trade of the United Kingdom Department for Business, Innovation and Skills {{UK-gov-stub