HC Deb 17 January 1996 vol 269 cc727-9
6. Mr. Nigel Evans

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what support his Department is giving to United Kingdom businesses which are seeking to export their goods. [7890]

Mr. Lang

The Government believe that international trade is vital to national competitiveness. Through Overseas Trade Services, my Department provides a first-rate package of information, advice and practical assistance to all British companies wishing to explore new export opportunities. In particular, we are assisting smaller firms through the business links network, which will help them to develop effective strategies to take advantage of international trade opportunities.

Mr. Evans

Will my right hon. Friend acknowledge that many companies can export successfully with little support from the DTI? One example is 3M in my constituency, which employs 250 people and exports 58 per cent. of its production of pharmaceutical aerosols and containers. However, many other companies need full support from the DTI to enable them to export their goods. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the trained staff in our embassies and high commissions take a proactive line in ensuring that the opportunities available abroad are made known, not only to those companies which contact the DTI but to others which do not?

Mr. Lang

Yes, I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. I particularly welcome the fact that there are now more commercial officers at FCO posts overseas. We have a programme of training and experience to improve the professionalism of Overseas Trade Services staff. My hon. Friend mentioned the pharmaceutical industry. He may like to know that exports by that industry rose last year by 37 per cent. to the European Union and 16 per cent. to non-EU countries.

Mr. Campbell-Savours

In so far as representatives of the Campbell's Soups company are in contact with departmental officials to discuss export marketing initiatives, why cannot those discussions be used as a forum in which representatives of that company can be told the real position of departmental officials and what is going on in my constituency? Does the Secretary of State share my outrage and concern and that of 332 other Members? In that light, is it not now time that departmental officials took a more hands-on approach to the matter?

Mr. Lang

The main question before the House relates to exports. I am not certain whether the hon. Gentleman is contemplating the export of the soups produced by that factory. The context of his question makes it impossible for me to answer it and remain in order, but I can reassure him that since 1979 the volume of British exports has nearly doubled and manufacturing exports have risen by almost 90 per cent.

Mr. Thomason

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that his Department is looking to encourage exporters among small businesses, of which are there are many in my constituency, as they are not always aware of the opportunities which may be available to them and have particular needs which larger companies can often fulfil within their own specialisations? Will my right hon. Friend confirm that small businesses are also important to his Department?

Mr. Lang

I am happy to reassure my hon. Friend on that point. Successful though our export record is, we are keen to increase by a further 30,000 the present total of 100,000 or so companies which currently export. To that end, we have recruited some 70 export counsellors who will make their services available to small companies through the business links network.

Mr. Malcolm Bruce

Does the President of the Board of Trade acknowledge that cumulatively over the years Scotch whisky has become our biggest single export? Although it is welcome that the Chancellor of the Exchequer reversed his tax increase on whisky of the previous fiscal year, the industry still encounters resistance in persuading difficult markets abroad to lower their taxes. Meanwhile, it continues to suffer penal taxation rates at home. Will the right hon. Gentleman make representations to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to continue reducing the penal rate of tax on Scotch whisky compared with, for example, that on imported wine?

Mr. Lang

The hon. Gentleman knows how my right hon. and learned Friend responded in his last Budget to the case made by the Scotch Whisky Association. The issue of whisky duty in Japan has been taken by the British Government to the World Trade Organisation under its arrangements for dispute settlement. Scotland's largest export is electronic office equipment. Overall, UK computer exports to the European Union have increased 55 per cent. in the last year.