§ Mr. SimonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is being done to ensure that manufacturers are(a) promptly and (b) accurately informed of what stage their applications for export licences have reached. [22811]
§ Nigel GriffithsAny exporter who has submitted an application for an export licence can telephone the Export Control Organisation (ECO), who retrieve from their licensing database up to date information about the stage that application has reached.
For cases where ECO is awaiting a response from another Government Department, the ECO has agreed with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development, arrangements for direct communication between exporters and specified contacts in those Departments.
These arrangements apply if the ECO has not contacted the applicant for 15 or more working days following dispatch of their standard acknowledgement letter, or the receipt by them of any further information requested from the applicant in connection with the application. If the applicant telephones the licensing officer dealing with the application, the ECO will check their records to establish the current situation. If they are awaiting advice from one of their advisers and that advice request has been 263W outstanding for 10 or more days they will give the applicant a contact name and telephone number in the section of the relevant Department in order that the applicant may obtain accurate information on the progress of their application.
The ECO is planning to introduce a new IT system which will enable exporters to apply for Standard Individual Export Licences over the internet and will also provide an online facility for any exporter to find out what stage their application has reached.
§ Mr. SimonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to aid manufacturers that are attempting to obtain export licences; and if she will make a statement. [22808]
§ Nigel GriffithsA number of IT and other continuous improvement initiatives are in train to assist exporters seeking to obtain export licences. These include a project to enable exporters to apply for a licence over the internet.
§ Mr. SimonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the difficulties faced by manufacturers with regard to their applications for export licences. [22814]
§ Nigel GriffithsA joint Confederation of British Industry and Export Control Organisation working group works to address issues of concern, including difficulties faced by manufacturers with regard to their applications for export licences.
Among the difficulties I have identified are delays arising from the assessments of use of exports for internal repression, external aggression, diversion to other end-users and preventing the development of WMDs, among others.
§ Mr. SimonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment her Department has made of the effects of delays in the processing of applications for export licences. [22810]
§ Nigel GriffithsThe Government do recognise the effect that delays in the processing of an export licence application can have on individual companies, but the need to give applicants a quick decision cannot outweigh the Government's determination to manage the transfer of all goods and technology controlled for strategic reasons in a responsible manner by rigorously assessing all relevant export licence applications against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria.
§ Mr. SimonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action she is taking to speed up the procedure for the processing of applications for export licences. [22813]
§ Nigel GriffithsI refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Salisbury (Mr. Key) on 29 November 2001,Official Report, column 1045W.
§ Mr. SimonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what assessment she has made of the criteria that need to be met by British manufacturers, with special reference to the obtaining of export licences, in order to compete on level terms with their(a) European and (b) American counterparts; [22805]
264W(2) what assessment she has made of the effect on British manufacturers of difficulties in obtaining export licences in cases where they are in competition with their (a) EU and (b) American counterparts. [22804]
§ Nigel GriffithsMany of the UK's controls on the export of military and dual use items are derived from international commitments that apply equally to competitors from the EU and the US as they do to British companies.
We have no evidence to suggest that British manufacturers face any more difficulties in obtaining export licences than their EU or American competitors. The provisions of the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports applies equally to all EU member states. In addition I would refer my hon. Friend to the Quadripartite Committee's analysis of the US system of export licensing published on 25 July 2000 (HC467), a copy of which is in the Libraries of the House.
§ Mr. SimonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of actions manufacturers can take to speed up the process by which their applications for export licences are granted; and if she will make a statement. [22807]
§ Nigel GriffithsIn order to assist the Export Control Organisation to process an application for an individual export licence as quickly as possible, exporters are advised to submit at the outset a completed application form together with all relevant supporting documentation at the earliest opportunity before a contract has been signed. Copies of the application form and guidance notes are available on the ECO website www.dti.gov.uk/export.control.
§ Mr. SimonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the process by which export licences are granted to manufacturers. [22806]
§ Nigel GriffithsThis is set out in a memorandum submitted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Quadripartite Committee on the roles and responsibilities of the main Departments involved in the licensing process, published on 15 June 1999 (HC540), available from the Library of the House.
§ Mr. SimonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the security threat posed by the granting of export licences to manufacturers selling their products to states that form part of the coalition against international terrorism. [22809]
§ Nigel GriffithsThe Government do not comment publicly on specific security threats. All relevant export licence applications are considered against the Consolidated EU and national arms export licensing requirements.