Technology: Exports to Soviet Union (Hansard, 9 December 1982)

§ Lord Thomas of Swynnerton
My Lords. I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ The Secretary of State for Trade (Lord Cockfield)
My Lords, advanced technology may not be exported to the Soviet Union if considered to be strategically sensitive. It is not in our interest to contribute to Soviet military or strategic advantage and capabilities.

§ Lord Thomas of Swynnerton
My Lords, while thanking my noble friend for that reply, may I ask him whether he does not consider that over the past 10 years or so a great deal of advanced technology has been made available to the Soviet Union which has been of assistance to them in their military endeavours; and therefore, would it not be desirable for the Government to consult with their allies in the committee known as COCOM as to whether that committee could not be expanded in relation to the type of goods which are exported to the Soviet Union, and in relation also to the number of countries which subscribe to that?

§ Lord Cockfield
My Lords, I could not accept the wide generalisation my noble friend makes. COCOM, the co-ordinating committee, keeps these matters under continuous review. A full-scale review of the list was launched in October of this year and will be completed next year. Any revision required between major revisions is always subject to consideration.

§ Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos
My Lords, is there not some argument for the exchange of limited technological information, if only as an instrument to defuse East-West tension? Is not the exchange of information allowed for in the convention on the sea, which we have recently refused to sign, an example of that? Would the Government not consider that again?

§ Lord Cockfield
My Lords, so far as the convention on the law of the sea is concerned, that is an entirely different point to the one raised in the Question on the Order Paper. With regard to the noble Lord's references to trade with the Soviet Union, I understand the point he is making. The restrictions operated through COCOM apply only to advanced technology which has a military or strategic value. One of the points we are pursuing in COCOM is to ensure that when technology ceases to be advanced technology it 256 should be removed from the prohibited list in the same way that new items of advanced technology should be added.

Lord Chelwood
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that his reply is not entirely reassuring? He will recollect that as recently as 8th February last I was assured in a Written Answer that there was unanimous agreement between the NATO allies and within COCOM about the more rigorous terms which should be applied to the export of high technology. Despite that, we have quite recently seen the United States action, which has surely exposed the fact that the system is not working at all well and that we are in some disarray.

§ Lord Cockfield
My Lords, I would not accept the view that my noble friend puts forward that we are in some disarray. We are currently reviewing the list of items dealt with under the COCOM procedure. In so far as improvements to that procedure may be needed, we are prepared with our allies to review the situation in the COCOM machinery.

§ Lord Davies of Leek
My Lords, does the noble Lord the Minister not agree that over the years COCOM, through the intervention of different Governments with different standards of progress in technology, has more or less arrived at conclusions which are helpful? Would the noble Lord also not agree that nevertheless, with the advance of technology, to divide the frontiers of the artefacts of peace and the artefacts of war is growing more and more difficult as man's ingenuity invents items which can be used just as well for peace as for war?

§ Lord Cockfield
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Leek, makes a philosophical point which is of considerable importance. The point on which we are all agreed is that we should not add to the military or strategic strength of the Soviet Union; there is no disagreement on that point at all. At the same time, trade in commodities or articles which do not add to the strength of the Soviets in the military field should not be discouraged.

§ Lord Mayhew
My Lords, will the noble Lord say what evidence he has of the use for military purposes of advanced technology of a non-military nature that has been exported?

§ Lord Cockfield
My Lords, if the noble Lord, Lord Mayhew, would care to give me an example of the specific articles he has in mind, I might be in a better position to answer his question.