§ Mr. Batisteasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what is the average length of time taken to grant an export licence to a British company under the consultative committee agreement when the consent or agreement of other consultative committee agreement partners is necessary;
(2) what criteria are used to determine whether licences under the COCOM Agreement can be granted at the discretion of Her Majesty's Government; and whether consultation and agreement with other countries is necessary;
(3) if he will describe the procedures followed by his Department in considering applications by British companies for licences for export of equipment covered by the COCOM Agreement including (a) where the grant of the licence is within the discretion of Her Majesty's Government and (b) where consultation and agreement with others is required; and if he will indicate whether he has any proposals for the modification of these procedures.
§ Mr. ChannonThe scope of COCOM's controls on exports of equipment and technology, including whether licences may be issued at national discretion, is established by unanimous agreement of the member Governments in432W accordance with agreed strategic criteria. In considering applications for export licences, my Department, having determined that a licence is indeed required, seeks the views of other Government Departments with an interest, whether or not the issue of that licence also requires the approval of our COCOM partners. Information on the average length of time to grant licences when such prior approval is necessary is not readily available. I have no proposals for the modification of these procedures, but they are kept under regular review.