§ Ann ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 8 June 1998,Official Report, column 440; what were the export control categories of the items which went with the Hawk aircraft; how many items of each equipment category went; and if the licences for any of those items were granted after May 1997. [49412]
§ Mrs. RocheI have been asked to reply.
As my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence said on 8 June 1998, Official Report, column 440, the timing of the delivery of any equipment is a matter for the exporter, subject to the conditions of any export licence. I understand that on 10 July British Aerospace informed officials at the Ministry of Defence that it had delivered no Hawk aircraft to Indonesia between 2 May 1997 and that date.
An applicant for an individual export licence must, of course, provide adequate information to enable the Government to decide whether or not to issue a licence, but there is no requirement that a trade name (such as 'Hawk') be specified on an application, or that the details be recorded on the Export Control Organisation's computer databases. Therefore, it is not possible to compile a list of all standard or open individual export licences granted since 2 May 1997 covering the export to Indonesia of goods intended for, or capable of, use with a particular type of aircraft, except by recourse to the paper records of all licences covering exports to Indonesia, which would entail disproportionate cost.
However, as I stated in an answer to my hon. Friend on 21 July 1997, Official Report, columns 448–49, licences covering the export to Indonesia of Hawk aircraft and equipment, including weapons systems and spares, had been issued on 2 January 1996 and 22 November 1996. The export of this ancillary equipment was controlled under entries ML4, ML5, ML10, ML15, ML16, ML18, ML22, and PL 5017 of Part III of Schedule 1 to the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994, as amended.