HC Deb 04 July 2002 vol 388 cc468-70W
Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the level is of debt owed by developing countries to the Export Credits Guarantee Department as a result of UK defence-related sales. [62037]

Ms Hewitt

For business underwritten by ECGD since 1991, the following amounts are outstanding in respect of ECGD claims payments in cases involving exports of defence equipment. Information on claims on business underwritten before 1991 is not held on a sectoral basis. Amounts outstanding on Algeria and Indonesia have been rescheduled through the Paris Club.

£ million
Market Claims Outstanding (as at 31 March 2002)
Algeria 0.1
Indonesia 488
Zimbabwe 0.9

Gregory Barker

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations have been made to her Department regarding the increases of national debt in(a) India and (b) Pakistan due to the importation of weapons from the United Kingdom in (i) each year since 1999 and (ii) January to June 2002. [65431]

Nigel Griffiths

The Department of Trade and Industry's Export Control Organisation has received representations regarding the export of arms and other items controlled for strategic reasons to India and Pakistan from a number of different sources, including Members of Parliament and the general public. It is not possible to say whether any of these concerned increases in national debt in India and Pakistan, as the information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Gregory Barker

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she takes to assess conformity with the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports during the evaluation of arms export licence applications. [65432]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

I have been asked to reply.

The Government announced the consolidation of the UK national export licensing criteria with those in the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports in a statement by my right hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Peter Hain) on 26 October 2000, Official Report, column 199–203W. We assess all applications on a case-by-case basis against these consolidated criteria. In doing so, we take account of reliable evidence, including, for example, reporting from diplomatic posts, relevant reports by international bodies, intelligence and information from open sources and non-governmental organisations. In addition, the EU Code of Conduct requires member states to inform partners of licence refusals under the EU Code through the circulation of denial notifications. The code requires member states to consult partners before approving a licence for a transaction refused by those partners. This helps further to ensure conformity within the EU when assessing export licence applications.

Dr. Cable

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Guildford (Sue Doughty) of 24 June 2002,Official Report, column 684W, on arms exports, which countries received export credit guarantee coverage for arms sales in each of the last five years; and how much export credit guarantee coverage each country received. [66556]

Ms Hewitt

[holding answer 3 July 2002]The table shows for financial years 1996–97 to 2000–01, the markets where ECGD has provided support for the export of defence equipment and the maximum liability of the guarantees issued for each market.

Year/market ECCD maximum liability (£ million)
1996–97
Australia 0.9
Bahrain 1.4
Indonesia 148.2
Korea, Republic of 13.6
Lithuania 1.5
Qatar 5.5
Saudi Arabia 225
Turkey 2
1997–98
Egypt 8.8
Germany 1.3
Greece 18.7
Indonesia 18.6
Italy 2.7
Korea, Republic of 62.4
Kuwait 55.7
Lithuania 2.9
Oman 0.9
Qatar 193.2
Saudi Arabia 225
Singapore 18.6
Thailand 27.3
Turkey 35.6
United Arab Emirates 9.8
United States 58.3
1998–99
Brazil 29.3
Brunei Darussalam 580.3
India 14.3
Indonesia 9.7
Italy 1.5
Korea, Republic of 19.7
Malaysia 16.2
Oman 21.1
Saudi Arabia 1,000
Sweden 4
United States 6.9
1999–2000
Chile 2
Greece 5.4
Kuwait 29.7
Malaysia 123.2
Oman 226.4
Saudi Arabia 1,000
Turkey 214.9
2000–01
Greece 55.3
Saudi Arabia 1,000
South Africa 1,624.7