§ Mr. Colvinasked the Secretary of State for Defence if, with regard to the sale or purchase of defence equipment, he will publish in the Official Report his definition of an "offset" agreement.
§ Mr. PattieOffset in respect of a defence equipment transaction can be defined as a requirement that the purchasing country should receive, from the selling country, orders for work to compensate for the value of the contract placed overseas. The offset requirement is normally expressed as a minimum proportion of the cost of the overseas contract.