HC Deb 15 October 2001 vol 372 cc980-1W
Mr. Brady

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many export licence applications have taken(a) up to one month, (b) two to three months, (c) three to six months and (d) over six months to decide in each of the last five years. [7210]

Nigel Griffiths

On 1 March 1999 a new IT system named ELATE was introduced to process Standard Individual Export Licence (SIEL) applications in the DTI's Export Control Organisation (ECO). Data can therefore be given in the form requested from March 1999 and are included in the table. Prior to that date information on SIELs was not stored in a format which allows us to retrieve the data without incurring disproportionate cost.

It would also entail disproportionate cost to provide the appropriate statistics for Open Individual Export Licence (OIEL) applications.

Details of licensing performance against published Government targets have been outlined in the Government's Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls since 1997. These can be accessed via the Foreign Office web-site at www.fco.gov.uk.

Breakdown of the number of SIELs issued in one, two to three, three to six and over six months1
Year Processed in: (working days) Number of SIELs Per cent. of SIELs
19992 0–20 5,077 65.7
21–60 2,443 31.6
61–120 197 2.5
Over 120 9 0.1
20003 0–20 6,342 59.9
21–60 3,381 31.9
61–120 607 5.7
Over 120 259 2.4
20014 0–20 4,722 60.0
21–60 2,364 30.0
61–120 484 6.2
Over 120 299 3.8
1 Figures include all cases—both those circulated and not circulated by DTI to our advisory departments.
2 1 March to 31 December
3 1 January to 31 December
4 1 January to 26 September

Note: In June 2000 a change in the criteria for circulating cases meant that nearly all cases would, from that point, be circulated. The figures given do not therefore match those in the Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls because figures given in those reports made a distinction between circulated and non-circulated cases.

Mr. Luff

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she has taken to ensure that advice and assistance given to exporters to(a) Pakistan and (b) China is consistent with the requirements of export licences; and if she will make a statement. [6558]

Nigel Griffiths

Trade Partners UK work in the United Kingdom and in overseas markets to offer appropriate advice to British exporters and investors seeking to do business. Trade Partners UK staff refer inquiries from companies about export licence requirements for all markets to the 'DTI's Export Control Organisation'. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the exporting company to ensure that any export it makes complies with export control legislation in force at the time of the export.