HC Deb 09 May 1990 vol 172 c312
Mr. Mellor

I beg to move amendment No. 501, in page 32, line 23, after '(a)', insert `(subject to subsection (2A))'.

Mr. Deputy Speaker

With this it will be convenient to take Government amendment No. 502.

Mr. Mellor

These amendments change the definition of a non-domestic satellite service so that in the case of services uplinked from the United Kingdom it applies only when the programmes included in it are provided by a person who is neither in the United Kingdom nor in a prescribed country. This is because under the Council of Europe convention any service provided by a person in a prescribed country will have to be regulated under the law of that country.

Mr. Darling

I do not think that we have any quarrel with the amendment, but I should be grateful if the Minister would tell me what a prescribed country is, or which they are. I think that I understand the basis of the amendment, but I should like to be sure of it.

Mr. Mellor

The prescribed countries are those which have signed the convention, so there is a reciprocal pattern of enforcement.

Mr. Darling

On that basis, I do not quarrel with the amendment.

Amendment agreed to.

Amendment made: No. 502, in page 32, line 38, at end insert— '(2A) Subsection (2)(a) does not apply to a service if and to the extent that the programmes included in it—

  1. (a) consist of material provided for inclusion in it (complete and unchanged) by a person in a prescribed country; and
  2. (b) are intended for general reception in a prescribed country (and are not intended for such reception in the United Kingdom).'.—[Mr. Mellor.]

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