§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many licence applications have been granted in the past five years for the export of tear gas and plastic bullets to Kenya. [24331]
§ Mrs. RocheThese goods, and others, are controlled under different entries in Part 1 of Schedule III to the Export of Goods (Control) Order which are known as the ratings for these goods: tear gas under entry ML7; and plastic bullets under entries ML3 or PL5021.
The Export Control Organisation's computer databases have been interrogated, and the following results were obtained. Between 1 January 1992 and 12 January 1998, 73 standard individual export licences were issued for the export to end users or consignees in Kenya of goods with these ratings. 61 of these licences covered goods rated ML3 and 12 covered goods rated PL5021; none covered goods rated ML7. Between 1 January 1994 and 12 January 1998, one Open Individual Export Licence was issued for the export to end users or consignees in Kenya of goods rated ML3 and none covering goods rated 331W ML7 or PL5021. The paper record of this case has been examined and the licence did not cover tear gas or plastic bullets.
This information should be considered in light of the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) on 30 October 1997, Official Report, columns 870–71.
Information on Open Individual Export Licences issued before 1 January 1994 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. It would also entail disproportionate cost to determine which, if any, of the standard individual export licences set out above covered the specified goods.
Goods with the relevant ratings may also have been exported to Kenya under the following Open General Export licences: OGEL (export after repair: military goods) and OGEL (export after exhibition: military goods), both of which were first issued on 1 March 1994.
§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what licences have been granted for the export of tear gas, plastic bullets and other security equipment to Kenya; and to which units in Kenya these transfers were destined. [28839]
§ Mrs. RocheThe entry in the legislation under which the export of goods is controlled is known as their rating. The export of tear gas is controlled under entry ML7 of Part III of Schedule 1 to the Export of Goods (Control) Order (the so-called "Military List"), and that of plastic bullets under entries ML3 or PL5021. Certain security and paramilitary police goods are specified under entry PL5001, but other goods with possible security uses may be controlled under various other entries in the Military List.
The Export Control Organisation's computer databases have been interrogated and the results are as follows. Between 1 January 1992 and 12 January 1998, 380 standard individual licences were issued for the export to end users or consignees in Kenya of goods described on the Military List. Between 1 January 1994 and 12 January 1998, 49 Open Individual Export Licences were issued for such exports. None of these licences covered goods rated ML7. Individual export licences can cover a range of goods, controlled under several entries in the legislation. Where this is so the licence is included in the Table in the total shown against each of the relevant ratings.
332W
Rating Number of standard individual export licences1 Number of open individual export licences2 ML1 175 1 ML2 5 2 ML3 61 1 ML4 12 5 ML5 6 8 ML6 17 3 ML8 0 2 ML9 5 2 ML10 15 22 ML11 33 7 ML13 6 5 ML14 0 2 ML15 2 3 ML18 1 3
Rating Number of standard individual export licences1 Number of open individual export licences2 ML21 0 1 ML22 0 4 PL5001 1 2 PL5002 1 1 PL5009 4 0 PL5017 1 3 PL5018 45 0 PL5021 12 0 PL5027 0 1 1Issued between 1 January 1992 and 12 January 1998 covering the export to Kenya of goods with this rating. 2Issued between 1 January 1994 and 12 January 1998 covering the export to Kenya of goods with this rating. In addition, 48 Media OIELs were issued during the period. Media OIELs are a special category of Open Individual Export Licence authorising the export to any destination of protective clothing, mainly for the protection of aid agency workers and journalists when working in areas of conflict.
This information should be considered in light of the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) on 30 October 1997, Official Report, columns 870–71.
It would entail disproportionate cost to determine which, if any of the licences set out in the table covered the specified goods, or to identify the end users in each case.
Goods with the relevant ratings may also have been exported to Kenya under the following Open General Export licences: OGEL (export after repair: military goods) and OGEL (export after exhibition: military goods), both of which were first issued on 1 March 1994.