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Export Credits Guarantee Department

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the ways in which the Export Credits Guarantee Department and the Export-Import Bank of the United States co-operate to achieve their objectives; what joint working groups and committees between the Export Credits Guarantee Department and the Export-Import Bank of the United States have operated since 1 January 1997; what agreements between the Export Credits Guarantee Department and the Export-Import Bank of the United States have been in existence since 1 January 1997; how many personnel from the Export-Import Bank of the United States have visited the Export Credits Guarantee Department since 1 June 1998; and how many personnel from the Export Credits Guarantee Department have visited the Export-Import Bank of the United States since 1 June 1998. [93938]

Mr. Caborn: 1. Co-operation between US Eximbank and ECGD to achieve our objectives: ECGD and the Export Import Bank of the United States (US Exim) co-operate in a number of ways to achieve their respective objectives. This includes discussions in multilateral fora such as the International Union of Credit and Investment Insurers (the Berne Union) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OFCD), with the aim of maintaining discipline in the field of Export credits and phasing out trade distorting subsidies. They also hold ad hoc informal discussions.

2. Joint Working Groups, Committees and Agreements that have operated since 1 January 1997: ECGD and US Exim participate in the following Committees and Working Groups:

In the context of the OECD:


In the context of the OECD:


ECGD has a number of Bilateral Co-operation Agreements between various other Export Credit Agencies which at present does not include US Eximbank.

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ECGD has entered into discussion with them but the discussions are at an early stage and US Eximbank is yet to respond to our draft agreement and documentation. If US Eximbank wish to pursue this agreement then we would expect to conclude the negotiations next year.

3. Visits by staff to US Eximbank and ECGD since 1 June 1998: Our relationship with US Eximbank cuts across many areas and their meetings take place at all levels with regard to 2 above. Our respective Chief Executives meet and talk to each other on a regular basis.

Visits to our respective office have occurred on the following matters:


Departmental Publications

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the titles of the in-house publications and newsletters which were produced for the staff of his Department, excluding non-departmental public bodies and agencies, in the last five years, specifying the dates on which each title was first produced, the frequency with which each title is produced and the current secrecy classification of each title. [93848]

Dr. Howells: A list of those in-house publications and newsletters which were produced for staff and that have been notified to my Department's Publications Unit and published by my Department during this period has been placed in the Library of the House.

Federal Key Management Infrastructure

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when officials from his Department attended meetings of the United States Department of Commerce's Technical Advisory Committee to Develop Federal Information Processing Standards for the Federal Key Management Infrastructure. [93841]

Ms Hewitt: Officials from the Department of Trade and Industry have not attended any meetings of the US's Technology Advisory Committee on developing a Federal Information Processing Standard for a Federal Key Management Infrastructure.

Ministerial Visits (United States)

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many times since 1 January 1998 officials from his Department have visited the United States to gather information to help set up his Department's Small Business Service; on what dates his officials visited the US on each occasion; and which US organisations his officials visited on each occasion. [93957]

Ms Hewitt: Officials from my Department with a responsibility for small firms issues visited the United States in October 1998 and February 1999. Both visits had a broad agenda, but included meetings with the Small Business Administration and a number of other organisations which are engaged with the SBA in delivering business support for small firms. In addition, officials have met with colleagues from the SBA in the United Kingdom in November 1998 and July 1999.

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Encryption

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many times (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have held meetings with the United States Special Envoy for Cryptography, Ambassador David Aaron, since 1 January 1998, on (i) encryption and (ii) other issues; what were the dates and locations of each meeting; and if any other (a) British and (b) United States Government Departments took part in each meeting. [93865]

Ms Hewitt: Ministers have not met with Ambassador Aaron.

Officials from the Department of Trade and Industry, the Cabinet Office and the Government's technical advisers on information security, the Communications Electronic Security Group met Ambassador Aaron on 4 June 1998 in London, on 3 September 1998 in Ottawa and 3 December 1998 in Vienna. On the United States side, the meetings involved officials from the Department of State, Commerce, Justice and Defense, and from the National Security Council. Each of these meetings related to discussions about national and international policies on encryption and possible changes to export controls on cryptographic goods under the Wassenaar Agreement for Export Controls on Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods. Each of these meetings were multinational meetings involving a number of other countries.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Millennium Compliance

Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement of progress on the millennium readiness of his Department's computer systems, and those for which it is responsible in the provision of public services; if contingency plans are in place; and what slippage has occurred since the July Quarterly report to the House. [93576]

Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the quarterly statements made in the House by the President of the Council. These statements cover the whole of the United Kingdom. The President of the Council is due to make a further statement shortly to update the House on progress towards compliance. Information on the compliance situation in each Department is laid before the House each quarter and is published on the internet.

It may be useful to point out that we have six Departments in Northern Ireland which are responsible, through Agencies, for the delivery of all key sectors of the infrastructure, with the exception of electricity generation and distribution. Hence most of the key services in Northern Ireland are included in the quarterly monitoring process and the statements by the President of the Council. They are also subject to the independent assessment process along with the Electricity Services and the results are reported at the Northern Ireland Infrastructure Forum and the National Infrastructure Forum.

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At the Northern Ireland Infrastructure Forum on 11 October the following services reported a Blue rating under the Action 2000 colour coding:


The position on the remaining services are:


I should point out that Local Government in Northern Ireland has a much smaller remit than in Great Britain, the key business areas being refuse collection and disposal, street cleansing, environmental health and registration of births, deaths and marriages.

Four of the core Northern Ireland Departments are all now reporting that they are fully compliant. The Department of Economic Development and the Department of Health and Social Services state that they will be compliant by end of October. Only one Department has shown slippage since the July statement to the House, i.e. the Northern Ireland Office.

The compliance of critical and non-critical communication and embedded systems in the Northern Ireland Office were completed in August 1999. A robust programme to combat slippage in the critical and non-critical IT systems is under way to ensure timely compliance.

The Business Continuity Plans and Millennium operating Regimes are being tested and independently assessed in accordance with Action 2000 guidance and an overall 100% Blue rating is expected by the end of October.

The results of the latest independent assessment of the Northern Ireland Criminal Justice Sector will be announced at the next National Infrastructure Forum on 21 October.

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