HC Deb 25 November 1997 vol 301 cc512-4W
Mrs. May

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the average time taken for dealing with export licence applications. [16356]

Mr. Prior

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how long, on average, it takes to obtain an export licence. [16526]

Mrs. Roche

The Department's Export Control Organisation (ECO) does not calculate the average length of time it takes for an export licence application to be processed. Licence applications are considered individually, there is no such thing as an average application.

The ECO has published targets for the processing of standard individual export licence applications. These are contained in the Code of Practice for enforcement available from the ECO. The targets apply where full information is provided with the application and are: 10 working days where the application is not circulated to other government departments for advice 20 working days where the application is circulated to other government departments for advice.

These targets do not apply to UN Sanctions cases or to applications involving Iran.

No targets are set for the processing of open individual export licence applications, which can involve complex combinations of goods and countries.

Mrs. May

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what are her Department's guidelines on the length of time export licences should take to process; and what proportion of export licences are currently dealt with within that time. [16352]

Mrs. Roche

The Department's Export Control Organisation (ECO) has published targets for the processing of standard individual export licence applications. These are contained in the Code of Practice for enforcement available from the ECO. The targets apply where full information is provided with the application and are10 working days where the application is not circulated to other government departments for advice. 20 working days where the application is circulated to other government departments for advice.

These targets do not apply to UN Sanctions cases or to applications involving Iran.

No targets are set for the processing of open individual export licence applications, which can involve complex combinations of goods and countries.

For the last four week period on which statistics have been computed (22 September to 17 October 1997) these targets have been met in 71 per cent. of non-circulated cases and 48 per cent. of circulated cases.

Mrs. May

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what advice her Department gives to exporters on the length of time taken to process export licences. [16353]

Mrs. Roche

The Department's Export Control Organisation (ECO) has published targets for the processing of standard individual export licence applications. These are available in the Code of Practice for enforcement available from the ECO. These targets apply where full information is provided with the application and are:-10 working days where the application is not circulated to other government departments for advice. 20 working days where the application is circulated to other government departments for advice.

These targets do not apply to UN Sanctions cases or to applications involving Iran.

No targets are set for the processing of open individual export licence applications.

The ECO is in touch with Trade Associations and major exporters from time to time about current performance levels in respect of these targets. It also provides an exporters' Helpline.

Mr. Paterson

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when she expects the backlog of export licences to be cleared. [16351]

Mrs. Roche

The Export Control Organisation (ECO) wrote to Trade Associations in June 1997 warning them that delays in export licensing were possible while the Review of Criteria, announced by the Foreign Secretary in May 1997, was in progress. This Review was completed on 28 July 1997, since when the new criteria have been applied to export licence applications. I expect licence processing times to improve in future.

There will always be a certain amount of "work in progress" in the processing of export licences, but my Department fully understands the need for the prompt handling of licence applications for strategic goods and is committed to this, subject to the need for all applications to be considered fully and carefully.