HC Deb 11 February 1999 vol 325 cc403-4W
Mr. Hancock

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what are the average times taken by other EU countries to process export licence applications to(a) Iran and (b) other countries. [70061]

Dr. Howells

The time taken by other member states to process export licence applications is a matter for them. The Government are committed to providing an efficient service to all applicants for export licences, irrespective of the destination.

Mr. Hancock

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the(a) average time taken and (b) target time in which to determine export licence applications for (1) Iran and (2) other countries in the last year for which figures are available. [70064]

Dr. Howells

Licences to export arms and other goods controlled for strategic reasons are issued by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, acting through the DTI's Export Control Organisation. All relevant individual licence applications are circulated by DTI to other Government Departments with an interest, as determined by them in line with their policy responsibilities. These include the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development.

While the average length of time taken to process export licence applications is not recorded, performance is measured against two aims: to provide a substantive response to an application for a standard individual export licence (SIEL) within 20 working days of receipt for applications circulated to other Government Departments according to their policy requirements; and, for non-circulated cases, to provide such a response within 10 working days.

In each case, full documentation in support of the application must be provided by the applicant at the outset for these targets to apply. The performance measures also apply to written rating inquiries, but they do not apply to applications for Open Individual Export Licences (due to wide variations between goods and country coverage of such licences). The performance measures apply to all SIEL applications, irrespective of the destination, other than those concerning Iran or exports which are subject to control solely because of United Nations Sanctions.