The Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs has held one previous public scrutiny hearing, on 30 April 2015, focusing on the sale of naval vessels.

The reason for the additional hearing is the expanding scope of the matter, which now includes the sale of naval vessels to Nigeria, the export of trucks to Eritrea, the export of tracked vehicles to Sudan and Sweden, and the sale of F-5 jets to the USA.

The hearing is scheduled for Friday, 27 November 2015, from 09:00 to approximately 18:30, in hearing chamber 1 at the Storting’s premises at Akersgata 18.

Invitees

The list of persons invited by the committee to attend the hearing includes the following:

• Minister of Defence Ine Eriksen Søreide and Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende.
• Former Ministers of Defence Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, Grete Faremo and Espen Barth Eide (who also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs), as well as former Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre.
• Chief of Defence Haakon Bruun-Hanssen and Chief of Defence Staff Norway Lieutenant General Erik Gustavson.
• Former Chief of Defence Staff Norway Rear Admiral Jan Eirik Finseth.
• Managing Director of the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organization Petter Jansen.
• Former Managing Director of the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organization Major General Trond R. Karlsen.

Issues

The committee has decided that the hearing should concentrate on, but not be restricted to, the following issues:

1. Are the current rules on the disposal of surplus/used defence materiel adequate?
2. What political processes apply in connection with the disposal of such materiel?
3. Are the exchange of information and division of work between the Norwegian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in connection with the export of surplus military materiel adequate?
4. How does the Ministry of Defence ensure compliance with the rules on the disposal of surplus defence materiel?
5. How do the Norwegian Armed Forces ensure compliance with the rules on the disposal of surplus defence materiel?
6. How does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ensure compliance with the export control rules?
7. What systems do the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have for quality assuring disposal processes, including systems designed to reveal potential irregularities?