LONDON, April 15 (UPI) --
Britain says it will ban export to the United States of three pharmaceutical drugs used in lethal-injection executions.
U.K. Business Secretary Vince Cable said the export ban for pentobarbital, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride would be formalized in a few days, The Guardian reported Friday.
"We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and are clear that British drugs should not be used to carry out lethal injections," Cable said. "Because of the importance and urgency of the situation this is an issue on which we felt we had to take the lead."
Pentobarbital is a sedative with a range of medical uses, including the treatment of epileptic seizures, and is also used to euthanize animals.
Since late last year, it has been used in the United States for lethal injections because supplies of another drug, sodium thiopental, became scarce.
Britain imposed export controls on sodium thiopental in November after it was discovered a small-scale wholesaler in west London had sold the drug to corrections departments in Georgia and Arizona.
Lethal injection chamber at , California.
Britain  announced Thursday  that it will ban the export to the US of three pharmaceutical drugs used for  in executions under the death penalty.

The three drugs are ,  and . 

UK Business Secretary Vince Cable said the order will be formalized within the next few days. 

Cable issued a statement saying, "We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and are clear that British drugs should not be used to carry out lethal injections. That is why we introduced a control on  last year—the first of its kind in the world. And it is also why we are now controlling the export of the other drugs used in lethal injections in the US."

Cable said he was requesting all   countries  in the EU to do the same in order to effectively control the export of these drugs.

Britain blocked the export  of  sodium thiopental in November after the human rights group  sued the government to stop its exportation to the US. Sodium thiopental had been sold to the  in two states, Georgia and Arizona, by a small wholesaler in London. The drug is legally used for lethal injections in the US but is in short supply there.

Pentobarbital, a sedative, is used to control continuous , as well as to treat a variety of other medical conditions. After sodium thiopental became scarce in the US late last year,  the US began to use pentobarbital as a substitute.

The  said in December that executions in the US had declined in  2010 compared to previous years, partly as a result of a sodium thiopental shortage.

The UK government said in a press release: "Having consulted UK suppliers of these drugs and other interested parties, the Government is satisfied that legitimate medical trade will not be hampered by the decision."