§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many different United Kingdom companies or organisations have applied for export licences in respect of RDX in its raw form in the last two years. [106441]
§ Dr. Howells[holding answer 24 January 20001: The entry in the legislation under which the export of goods is controlled is known as their rating and most ratings cover a range of goods. RDX in its raw form is controlled under entry ML8 in Part III of Schedule 1 to the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994, commonly known as the Military List.
The Export Control Organisation's computer databases have been interrogated. Between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 1999, the Export Control Organisation 204W received 112 applications for a Standard Individual Export Licence (SIEL) and five applications for an Open Individual Export Licence (OIEL) covering the export of goods with the rating ML8.
These applications were made by 23 different United Kingdom companies or organisations. It would entail disproportionate cost to undertake an examination of the paper records of each of the 117 individual applications to establish which covered the export of RDX in its raw form.
This information should be considered in light of the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood (Mr. Berry) on 27 July 1999, Official Report, columns 307–08W.
All applications for licences to export goods entered in Part III of Schedule 1 to the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994 are assessed against the criteria announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 28 July 1997, Official Report, columns 26–29W, and the European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports.