§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the military equipment and its estimated value, whose sale to Turkey in the last five years has been assisted by his Department. [55617]
§ Mr. SpellarThe assistance provided by the Ministry of Defence to British industry is given within the context of the Government's defence export policies. The criteria for export controls were announced to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 28 July 1997,Official Report, columns 26–29. Much of the assistance is general in nature and we do not maintain detailed records of cases where MOD assistance has resulted in defence exports to individual countries and it would involve disproportionate cost to assemble information for Turkey. According to data provided by HM Customs and Excise, however, the total value of UK exports to Turkey recorded under HM Customs and Excise Tariff Codes relating to military equipment has averaged some £14 million annually over the past five years.
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