§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Newport, West, 7 FebruaryOfficial Report, column 216, 351W he will set out (a) the total number of export licences issued by his Department in each year between 1979 to 1988 inclusive and (b) the numbers of export licence applications refused in 1989 and 1990 respectively, giving the main reasons why such applications were refused.
§ Mr. Lilley[holding answer 20 February 1991]In 1987 and 1988 my Department granted 94,613 and 86,605 export licences respectively. Statistics for previous years are not readily available and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
The number of export licence applications refused in 1989 and 1990 was 281 and 283 respectively. In addition, 3,620 and 3,495 licence applications were cancelled by DTI or withdrawn by the companies concerned in 1989 and 1990 respectively. The main reasons for refusing to grant an export licence are the unacceptable risk to national and collective security and that the export is inconsistent with the Government's policy, in particular on nonproliferation, terrorism and human rights.