House of Commons Hansard Debates for 31 Oct 1990

70. Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make an assessment of the contribution Scottish manufacturing and service industry exports make to the balance of payments.

109. Mr. Andrew Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make an assessment of the contribution of Scottish manufacturing and service industry exports to the balance of payments.

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115. Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make an assessment of the contribution Scottish manufacturing and service industry exports make to the balance of payments.

Mr. Sainsbury : A survey by the Scottish Council for Development and Industry shows that Scottish manufactured exports amounted to £7.2 billion in 1988. United Kingdom exports of manufactures in that period amounted to £71.1 billion (SIC basis). Information is not available on the value of Scottish service exports.

Information Technology

58. Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the latest estimate of the balance of trade in information technology.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : According to the latest estimates, the United Kingdom had a deficit of £685 million in the manufactured products of the electronics and information technology sector in the first quarter of 1990. This sector is defined as the principal products of activity headings 3301-2, 3441-4 and 3453-4 of the standard industrial classification. These figures are for hardware only. There are no separate figures for trade in software.

64. Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received about the future of the British information technology industry.

131. Mr. Livingstone : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received about the future of the British information technology industry.

Mr. Dougls Hogg : My Department regularly receives representations about many areas of industry, including the IT sector.

Textile Industry

61. Mr. Cunliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next expects to meet his European counterparts to discuss the textile industry.

88. Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next expects to meet his European counterparts to discuss the textile industry.

135. Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next expects to meet his European counterparts to discuss the textile industry.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : I will be meeting my EC counterparts at the Industry Council on 26 November to discuss Commission proposals on industrial policy, covering all sectors. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with his counterparts to discuss trade matters, including the phasing-out of the multi-fibre arrangement, which are of interest to the textile industry.

129. Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he last met representatives of the textile industry in west Yorkshire to discuss textile imports.

Mr. Sainsbury : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State met representatives of the United Kingdom textile

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industry on 29 October to discuss trade policy as it affects the industry in west Yorkshire on 22 August where this was one of the subjects discussed, and on 23 October I met a TUC delegation to discuss the MFA.

Legal Advice (Single Market)

62. Mr. Barry Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to promote access to legal advice which crosses national frontiers to enable United Kingdom firms to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the single European market ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Redwood : The Government are anxious to ensure that there is continuing progress towards the freedom of provision of legal services in the Community. Member states are obliged by 4 January 1991 to implement directive 89/48/EEC on a general system for the recognition of higher- education diplomas. This will allow lawyers from one member state to be admitted to the corresponding profession in another member state and practise as members of that profession, using the title of the host member state. Entry to the profession in another member state will be subject only to a limited written test or period of supervised practice where necessary to show competence in provisions of the national law of the host state.

We are also anxious that there should be as few restrictions as possible on the provision of legal advice in another member state not as a member of that state's profession but as a member of the lawyer's home state profession.

In the United Kingdom, there is only a small range of activities that is reserved to members of our legal profession : rights of audience in court, the issue of certain court proceedings, probate and conveyancing. Beyond those activities, we do not impose any restrictions on who may give legal advice, and we welcome foreign lawyers or law firms practising under their home state title in the United Kingdom. Not all member states adopt such a liberal approach. My right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor and I will continue our efforts to persuade colleagues in other member states that freedom to provide legal advice throughout the Community using home state title should be allowed, and that the provisions of the treaty of Rome on rights of establishment are adhered to.

Baghdad Arms Fair

63. Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance was given by his Department to British companies attending the 1989 Baghdad arms fair ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Sainsbury : The assistance given by the Department of Trade and Industry to British companies attending the 1989 Baghdad international exhibition for military production was as follows : Licences were issued where appropriate to participating companies to allow the temporary export of their products for exhibition purposes.

Officials attended the exhibitors briefing meeting on 20 March 1989 to provide advice on current bilateral commercial relations.

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Net Book Agreement

65. Mr. Andrew MacKay : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any plans to review the net book agreement.

Mr. Redwood : I have no such plans. Under the relevant legislation, the review of arrangements such as the net book agreement (NBA) is a matter for the Restrictive Practices Court, on application by the Director General of Fair Trading.

The Director General considered the case for a fresh application in August 1989. He noted that, since 1962, there had been many changes in the book publishing and retailing trades, but the question he had to consider was whether these changes were of such magnitude as to lead the court to a different conclusion on the effects of ending the NBA. He concluded that there was an insufficiently strong basis to justify him in making an application to the court to reopen the case.

British Exporters

66. Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any new proposals to help British exporters.

108. Mr. Frank Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any new proposals to help British exporters.

116. Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any new proposals to help British exporters.

Mr. Sainsbury : My Department offers a wide range of advice and support to assist United Kingdom exporters of which many firms make use. We continue to monitor the performance and relevance of our services to ensure that they fully meet the needs of our customers.

95. Mr. Soames : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on Britain's export performance.

Mr. Sainsbury : We have seen a significant and sustained growth in United Kingdom exports. The value of non-oil exports doubled between 1979- 1988. It increased again by 16 per cent. in 1989. In the three months to September, the value of goods exported was 9 per cent. higher than a year ago. This is a remarkable success, achieved in the face of increasingly strong competition, on which British exporters are to be congratulated.

128. Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what meetings he has had with representatives of those manufacturers or industries which are significant exporters during recent weeks.

Mr. Sainsbury : My right hon. Friend frequently meets members of the United Kingdom business community involved in exporting for Britain, as do all Ministers in the Department.

Financial Regulation

Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he expects to discuss financial regulation at his next meeting with the chairman of the stock exchange.

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134. Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he expects to discuss financial regulation at his next meeting with the chairman of the stock exchange.

Mr. Redwood : My right hon. Friend and I meet the chairman of the stock exchange as frequently as necessary for discussion on a range of topics.

72. Mr. James Lamond : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his Department's latest assessment of the effectiveness of City regulation.

79. Mr. Robert Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his Department's latest assessment of the effectiveness of City regulation.

111. Mr. Buckley : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his Department's latest assessment of the effectiveness of City regulation.

Mr. Redwood : Regulation of investment business is for the most part the responsibility of the Securities and Investments Board, which is the designated agency under the Financial Services Act 1986. Other aspects of City activity are regulated under other arrangements, such as the Insurance Companies Act 1982 and the Banking Act 1987. If the hon. Members have complaints about specific matters they should contact the relevant regulatory body.

Mining Engineering Companies

69. Mr. Hinchcliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next expects to meet representatives of British mining engineering companies to discuss their export performance.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : I have no such plans at present.

Trade Links (Soviet Union)

73. Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans his Department has to promote increased trade links with the Soviet Union and in particular the three Baltic republics.

Mr. Sainsbury : The Department has a very full forward programme of events to promote trade with the Soviet Union, including high-level visits, sectoral working groups and specific support for British companies attending trade fairs, missions and seminars. In addition, the Department handles over 100 inquiries a week from British companies seeking business in the Soviet Union.

Although there are no events currently targeted on specific Republics, the major trade event in 1991 will be a British week in Leningrad, which we hope will promote business with a wide area of the Soviet Union, including the nearby Baltic republics.

Iraq

74. Mr. Maxton : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the number of firms affected by the withdrawal of contracts from Iraq.

125. Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the number of firms affected by the withdrawal of contracts from Iraq.

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Mr. Sainsbury : We do not have a complete count of United Kingdom firms affected. The DTI, the Bank of England and the FCO have dealt with a large volume of inquiries since the beginning of the crisis. ECGD is in contact with most of the firms which insured their contracts and will be meeting established claims.

Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he possesses concerning the export arrangements which Ordnance Technologies Ltd of Reading have had with Iraq since 1987.

Mr. Sainsbury : It has not been the practice of successive Governments to disclose such information.

Cosmetics Industry

77. Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what are the latest export figures in the cosmetics industry.

Mr. Sainsbury : Exports of cosmetics in the last six months are shown in the following table : ("cosmetics" include all products covered by code 553.2 of the Standard International Trade Classification revision 3(SITC. rev. 3).


                               

-------------------------------

March 1990 |20.6               

April      |15.1               

May        |16.6               

June       |16.3               

July       |18.4               

August     |17.8               

Source: Overseas Trade         

Statistics of the United       

Kingdom.

Registered Businesses

78. Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the change in the number of registered businesses since 1979.

Mr. Redwood : In the 10 years to the end of 1989 the number of live puplic and private companies registered in Great Britain rose from 727,000 to 1,014,000. During the same period the total number of businesses registered for VAT in Great Britain, including sole proprietors, partnerships etc. as well as companies, increased from 1,246,000 to 1,611,000.

Waste Recycling

80. Mr. Squire : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proposals his Department has produced recently to encourage greater waste recycling in industry.

Mr. Redwood : My Department is in regular contact with industry to encourage the development of projects which seek to recycle unavoidable waste. Recycling projects are eligible for consideration under two schemes announced on 2 October, ETIS and DEMOS. ETIS, the environmental technology innovation scheme, is a joint Department of Trade and Industry/Department of the Environment scheme designed to encourage environmental innovation and improved environmental standards. DEMOS, the DTI environmental management options scheme, is to promote the spread

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of best environmental practice among companies. Both these schemes have a particular focus on recycling, including recycling of industrial waste.

Zimbabwe

82. Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make it his policy to publish the names of United Kingdom-registered companies to which licences have been granted to export computer hardware and software to Zimbabwe.

Mr. Sainsbury : No. The established practice is not to publish information of this kind.

Privatisation

83. Dr. Twinn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has on independent studies on the impact of privatisation on managerial effectiveness ; and whether he will make a statement.

Mr. Redwood : Much has been written about privatisation, and one point at least is clear. Privatisation has freed businesses from bureaucratic constraints, and management can at last use commercial judgment to deliver the goods and services demanded by customers in a competitive market.

Federal Republic of Germany 85. Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the value of goods exported to and imported from the Federal Republic of Germany in the last full year of which figures are available.

Mr. Sainsbury : United Kingdom visible exports to the Federal Republic of Germany in the 12 months ended August 1990 totalled £12.5 billion. Visible imports in the same period were £20.5 billion.

GATT Talks

87. Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on current progress in the GATT talks in the multi-fibre arrangement.

136. Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the latest negotiations on GATT with particular reference to textiles and clothing and the future of the multi-fibre arrangement.

Mr. Sainsbury : The current round of GATT negotiations is due to end in Brussels in the first week in December. The textiles negotiating group is meeting almost continuously in Geneva with a view to producing a draft text of an agreement on the integration into GATT of trade in textiles and clothing. Subjects being discussed include the length of the transitional period between the expiry of MFA IV and full liberalisation, the process by which the various categories of products are to be liberalised, the nature of the transitional safeguard mechanism and the link between the phasing out of the MFA and progress in other parts of the negotiations.

Multi-fibre Arrangement

92. Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about the future of the multi-fibre arrangement.

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93. Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will make a statement about the future of the multi-fibre arrangement.

Mr. Sainsbury : The latest extension of the multi-fibre arrangement expires next year. The EC and the United Kingdom are committed in the current Uruguay round of GATT negotiations to phasing it out over a subsequent transitional period on the basis of strengthened GATT rules and disciplines.

The textiles negotiating group is meeting almost continuously in Geneva with a view to producing a draft text of an agreement on the integration into GATT of trade in textiles and clothing. Subjects being discussed include the length of the transitional period between the expiry of MFA IV and full liberalisation, the process by which the various categories of products are to be liberalised, the nature of the transitional safeguard mechanism and the link between the phasing out of the MFA and progress in other parts of the negotiations.

Negotiations on how this should be done are due to be completed in Brussels in December.

Unit Trusts

102. Mr. Bell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he will be taking to ensure that the British unit trust investment sector will not be put at a competitive disadvantage after 1992 compared to other European countries' industries.

Mr. Redwood : The European directive on UCITS (undertakings for collective investments in transferable securities) came into force on 1 October 1989. The directive provides for cross-border trade in UCITS, including most classes of United Kingdom authorised unit trusts. On 1 October 1990 my Department submitted a report to the Trade and Industry Select Committee on the operation and impact of the UCITS directive. As yet there is little evidence of any cross-border trade, but the report identifies the principal factors which will affect the long-term impact of the directive. The Government will continue, in conjunction with the unit trust industry, to monitor the competitiveness of the United Kingdom unit trust in Europe. Copies of the report have been laid in the Libraries of the House.

Global Financial Market

107. Mr. Carrington : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action international regulators are taking to tackle the challenges of a global financial market.

Mr. Redwood : There are many current instances of international action to tackle the challenges of a global financial market. Examples include existing and proposed European Community ligislation on banking, insider dealing, insurance, investment services and capital requirements ; bilaterial agreements on exchange of enforcement information.

The Department of Trade and Industry is joint signatory with SIB of memoranda of understanding with the United States and Japanese authorities ; there are agreements between SIB and its counterparts in 37 countries.

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There is worldwide recognition that these arrangements need to be developed in order to facilitate cross-border trade in financial services while protecting investors from risk.

International discussion takes place through formal and informal contacts on a bilaterial basis and in multilateral fora, such as IOSCO--the International Organisation for Securities Commissions. One of the most recent initiatives was the first trilateral meeting of United Kingdom, United States and Japanese regulatory authorities which I attended at Airlie in Virginia on 18 and 19 September. This resulted in the Airlie house declaration which affirmed continuing close co-operation between the authorities in the three major, world financial markets. A copy of this is in the Library.

Eastern Europe

113. Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what visits he has made to eastern Europe in 1990 to discuss privatisation.

Mr. Lilley : In September, together with a party of British business men, I visited Berlin for talks with the West German Minister for the Economy and German business men. Among other things, we discussed investment in East Germany and in eastern Europe more generally, including opportunities arising from privatisation. My predecessor visited Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary earlier this year and privatisation was one of the key issues discussed. Over the last year or so other DTI Ministers have led parties of business men to these countries as well as to the USSR, Romania and the GDR, and have addressed the question of privatisation on most occasions.

Small Engineering Companies

117. Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received from small engineering companies about the business outlook for the sector.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : My Department regularly receives representations about many areas of industry, including the engineering sector.

Financial Services

118. Mr. Lofthouse : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received on the regulation of financial services.

132. Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received on the regulation of financial services.

Mr. Redwood : My right hon. Friend and I receive a considerable number of representations on a variety of topics relating to the regulation of financial services. We consider very carefully those which relate to the scope or the framework of the regulatory system or to the powers under the Financial Services Act which the Government retain. Those which relate to matters which are the responsibility of the Securities and Investments Board or another regulatory authority are passed to the appropriate body.

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Wild Birds

119. Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make it his policy to ban the trade in wild birds for the purposes of domestic pets.

Mr. Sainsbury : The import of wild birds is already strictly controlled by conservation legislation. The United Kingdom is party to the convention on international trade in endangered species (CITES) under which trade in certain species is closely monitored while commercial trade in the most endangered species is completely banned. The import of many non-CITES species into the United Kingdom is also controlled under the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act 1976.

I understand that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment is currently looking at ways of improving and extending the controls on the import of species which are unlikely to survive in captivity.

Single Market (Takeovers)

120. Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will implement the Trade and Industry Select Committee's recommendation in respect of the single market on early publication of the European Commission's study on barriers to takeovers in the Community.

Mr. Redwood : The Commission has decided not to publish the report. HMSO has, however, published the report on barriers to takeovers that the Department of Trade and Industry commissioned in 1989. This covers the same issues and arrives at broadly similar conclusions concerning the prevalence and significance of specific barriers.

Insurance Industry

123. Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what future steps he will be taking to ensure that the British insurance industry is not put at a competitive disadvantage after 1992.

Mr. Redwood : The United Kingdom supports the Commission's proposals for the single insurance passport. The removal of trade barriers after 1992 will provide new opportunities for the United Kingdom industry, and is good news for the consumer. Our negotiations are designed to ensure fair access for our companies.

Motor Industry

124. Miss Widdecombe : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what visits he has made to companies in the motor industry; and whether he will make a statement.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : I visited Motor Panels in Coventry on 22 October to open a tool shop. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State visited Toyota's Burnaston site and Rearsby Automotive Ltd. on 23 August, as well as Bostrom Ltd. on 2 October.

EC Financial Services Directives

126. Mr. John Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress he has made by his discussions within the Council of Ministers on the need to

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ensure that the capital adequacy and financial services directives do not unfairly discriminate against the United Kingdom independent intermediary sector.

Mr. Redwood : The investment services directive and its supporting capital adequacy directive are currently under negotiation. The Government recognise the special role of independent financial intermediaries in the United Kingdom financial sector and want them to benefit as far as possible from the opportunities of the single market. However, the Government are equally concerned not to subject such firms to inappropriately high capital requirements. As the negotiations progress, I expect that a balance will have to be struck between the benefits which could flow from the European "single passport" and the burdens which could arise from the terms of the capital adequacy directive. I am keeping progress on the directives under constant review in the light of this consideration.

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