§ Mr. MorganTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will specify what proportion of Export Credits Guarantee Department cover provided for military or dual-use exports in the period 1985 to 1990 was(a) short-term and (b) medium-term.
§ Mr. Needham[holding answer 26 November 1992]: It is not possible to provide figures on the basis requested, because of the way ECGD records have been structured to meet its business needs.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on claims made on(a) NCM as the potential successor company to the Export Credits Guarantee Department and (b) ECGD with respect to short-term cover on military and dual-use trade credit to Iraq in the last five years.
§ Mr. Needham[holding answer 26 November 1992]: Under the terms of the December 1991 privatisation of the short-term business of ECGD, NCM assumed no responsibility for the administration and payment of claims arising from any export business conducted with Iraq. That responsibility remained with ECGD.
ECGD does not maintain details of short-term claims paid or under examination categorised by type of goods. In the last five years, ECGD has paid a total of £23.2 million in respect of insured short-term export trade with Iraq. In addition, approximately £6 million of claims received are currently under examination. At this stage, it is difficult to forecast the extent to which claims paid will eventually be recovered.