§ Harry CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications for imports to Iraq have been blocked in the United Nations Sanctions Committee for(a) less than three months, (b) three to six months, (c) six to nine months, (d) nine to 12 months and (e) more than one year. [2712]
§ Peter HainMost applications to export goods to Iraq are made under the 'oil for food' programme established by United Nations Security Council resolution 986 (1996). The vast majority of applications are approved by the United Nations sanctions Committee. As at 6 July 2001 around 19,700 applications worth over $28.7 billion had been received by the UN since the programme began in 1996. Only 1,350 were on hold by the Committee (see table for breakdown). The majority of Committee holds are imposed because applications are submitted with insufficient information for the Committee to be able to assess whether the goods could be used in Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) programmes. Where there are serious concerns in this regard, assurances of end-use or in-country monitoring are often sufficient to lift the hold.
Months on hold Number of holds Value of holds (US$ billion) 0–3months 301 1.24 3–6months 197 0.62 6–9months 220 0.62 9–12months 170 0.32 Over 12 months 461 0.59 Total 1,349 3.39