§ Mr. Robert Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Trade (1) if he will request British companies with subsidiaries in South Africa to supply him with details of all sales to the South African Government, South African de-defence forces, and South African police for the years 1975, 1976 and 1977; and if he will publish the information in the Official Report;
(2) how many export credit guarantees for exports to South Africa were granted in each of the years 1970 to 1977; and 643W what was the total value of such guarantees for each year over the same period.
§ Mr. MeacherI will reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Robert Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Trade how many British trade missions visited South Africa in each year from 1970 to 1977; how many such missions received a grant from his Department; and what was the average grant in each year; and what was the total cost to his Department.
§ Mr. MeacherThe number of officially supported trade missions to South Africa in these years, together with the average grant paid to each mission and the total expenditure in each year is as follows:
Number of missions Average grant Total expenditure £ £ 1970 12 2,655 31,860 1971 8 3,288 26,304 1972 11 4,400 48,400 1973 16 3,961 63,386 1974 18 4,350 78,300 1975 15 5,220 78,300 1976 17 4,235 72,000 1977 17 4,079 69,350 The total cost for the eight-year period was £467,900.
§ Mr. Robert Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Trade how many export licences for goods exported to South Africa were granted for the years 1974 to 1977 for items covered by the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1972.
§ Mr. MeacherIn the period 1974–77 nearly 200,000 applications for export licences were received, and the records of each application would need to be examined to check, by destination, whether a licence was issued or refused. This could only be done at disproportionate effort and cost.