§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what actions have been taken by his Department concerning the sale of defence and defence-related equipment to Chile and the enforcement of the end user certificates system; and what evidence he has of the sale to Chile of such equipment.
§ Mr. SainsburyDefence and defence-related equipment for sale to Chile or elsewhere which is subject to export control under the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1989 requires an export licence, for which my Department is the issuing authority.
Each application for a licence is considered on its merits in consultation with other Departments taking into account the type of equipment, its end use and end user. It would not be appropriate to disclose the nature of the end use checks made.
Under the EG(C)O there are penalties, enforceable through the courts, for any person who makes a false statement or provides information known to be false to obtain an export licence.
Over the past 12 months, 96 licences have been issued for defence and defence-related equipment exports to Chile, though not all cases in which a licence was issued would have resulted in a sale.
§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the number of export licences that have been(a) granted and (b) refused for the sale of defence equipment and defence-related equipment for each year since 1979.
§ Mr. SainsburyFigures for the number of export licences(a) granted and (b) refused for the sale of defence equipment and defence-related equipment cannot be provided for the years 1979 to 1986. The figures for the years 1987 to the end of September 1990 are as follows:
Year Number of export licences issued Refused 1987 16,745 113 1988 16,005 97 1989 13,584 167 11990 10,269 117 1January to September Approximately one third of the licences issued are for small arms including personal firearms and shotguns.