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Departmental Productivity
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action he is taking to increase the productivity and reduce the running costs of his Department. [103856]
Mr. Byers: The Department's targets for increasing productivity and reducing running costs are set out in its Public Service Agreement, which is available in the Library of the House within "Public Services for the Future: Modernisation, Reform, Accountability" (CM 4181). Revised targets are being drawn up for new Public Service and Service delivery Agreements that will be published after the completion of the 2000 Spending Review.
World Trade Organisation
Mrs. Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish a timetable of action needed to re-establish the WTO talks. [103225]
Mr. Byers
[holding answer 20 December 1999]: There is no formal timetable. The first step is for consultations between WTO member governments on the way forward. We would hope that the Round could be launched next year or in 2001. In the meantime, we need, as I have said, to press on urgently with reform of WTO processes so that WTO members are able to work more effectively in the preparation, launch and conduct of trade negotiations.
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Mrs. Browning:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has made to (a) the EU and (b) the US Government about reinstating the WTO talks. [103224]
Mr. Byers
[holding answer 20 December 1999]: I discussed these issues with my EU colleagues in the Council of Ministers on the eve of our departure from Seattle. Since Seattle I have been in touch with Commissioner Lamy and my other EU colleagues. We remain agreed on the need to launch a comprehensive Round and there is widespread recognition in the EU and WTO of the need for WTO reform. These matters have also been discussed in the context of the EU/US Summit on 17 December.
Mr. Blizzard:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will investigate the petrol prices charged to customers by car hire companies. [103578]
Dr. Howells:
I have no such plans.
Mr. Peter Bradley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish the report concerning Blue Arrow plc to which his Department referred in its written answers of 30 June and 14 July 1992. [103557]
Dr. Howells
[holding answer 20 December 1999]: The inspectors' report was published on 24 September 1992.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the licence granted in November 1996 for the export of Hawk aircraft to Indonesia will cease to be valid. [103554]
Dr. Howells:
As I stated in my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Cynon Valley (Ann Clwyd) on 29 October 1999, Official Report, column 1015W, all individual licences covering the export or transhipment to Indonesia of military goods or technology have been suspended in accordance with the Common Position, adopted on 16 September, by which EU member states decided to impose an arms embargo on Indonesia for four months. In that answer I also stated that, because the embargo is time restricted, the period of validity of the licences concerned has been extended by four months. Accordingly, the licence granted under the previous administration on 22 November 1996 for the export of sixteen 200 series Hawks has been suspended, and its period of validity extended by four months; it will now expire on 24 March 2001.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many licences for strategic exports have been refused or revoked since July 1997 for exports of goods and technologies in connection with licensed production agreements. [103761]
Dr. Howells:
Information on decisions to refuse export licence applications and to revoke licences is set out in
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the Government's Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls, published by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
It would entail disproportionate cost to identify which, if any, of the goods covered by applications refused and licences revoked since 2 May 1997 are intended for use in connection with overseas manufacturing facilities operating under a commercial licence issued by a UK company.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many additional assurances have been sought in the last three years, in connection with the granting of export licences, that goods and technologies will not be re-exported from licensed production facilities to countries of concern; and what the legal status is of these assurances. [103762]
Dr. Howells:
Licences to export arms or other goods controlled for strategic reasons are issued by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, acting through the Export Control Organisation of the Department of Trade and Industry. All relevant individual licence applications are circulated by the DTI to other Government Departments with an interest, as determined by their policy responsibilities. These include the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development.
If, when an application is being considered, the Export Control Organisation of my Department is advised that additional information is required, for example specific supplementary end use assurances, the applicant is informed and the decision on their application is taken in light of the information subsequently received. Where an application concerns goods intended for use in connection with an overseas facility in which particular goods will be manufactured under a commercial licence issued by a UK company, that fact is not recorded on the Export Control Organisation's computer databases.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what representations he has received concerning the use by United Kingdom companies of overseas licensed production facilities to supply weapons to countries in conflict; [103671]
(3) what plans the Government have to introduce legislation for the control of exports of controlled goods from licensed production facilities abroad. [103672]
Dr. Howells:
A number of non-governmental organisations raised the issue of licensed production overseas in their responses to the 1998 White Paper on Strategic Export Controls. All the written responses to the White Paper were published by the Government on 30 November 1998, except for two for which complete confidentiality was requested.
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The Government are considering the question of controls on licensed production overseas as part of their review of the proposals contained in the White Paper. In the course of this review the Government are looking at United States legislation regulating licensed production overseas.
The Government will announce proposals for new export control legislation, following conclusion of the review of the White Paper proposals.
Mr. Sayeed:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what assessment his Department has made of the damage to British companies as a result of American retaliatory action in the banana dispute between the EU and the US; [103947]
Mr. Caborn:
The United States has World Trade Organisation authority to retaliate up to an annual monetary value of $191.4 million against EU goods. The sectors that the US has chosen to include in this authorised retaliation, and the annual value of UK exports is as follows:
(2) what assessment he has made, during the consultation phases for new legislation on strategic export controls, of current US legislation regulating licensed production, with particular reference to the re-export of goods from licensed production factories; [103670]
(2) what representations his Department has received from British companies whose business has been damaged by the banana dispute between the EU and the US. [103943]
| US Tariff Code | Description | £ million |
|---|---|---|
| 85072080 | Batteries | 13.78 |
| 33073050 | Bath oils | 7.29 |
| 49119120 | Lithographs | 2.20 |
| 63022190 | Bed linen | 1.48 |
| 48192000 | Cartons | 1.42 |
| 85167100 | Coffee makers | 0.37 |
| 42023210 | Wallets | 9.13 |
| 42022215 | Handbags | 0.09 |
| 48055000 | Felt paper | 0.02 |
| Total | 26.8 |
Source:
European Commission
The actual impact on UK companies in the targeted sectors will depend on a number of factors, including the length of time that the retaliatory measures remain in place and the ability of affected companies to find alternative customers for their goods. However, I have received many representations from UK companies affected by the US retaliation, and based upon these representations my assessment is that there is a real risk of damage to British companies in terms of lost trade and jobs. I take the risks very seriously, and this is why the Government and the European Commission are putting every possible effort into resolving this dispute once and for all.
Mr. Sayeed:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action his Department has taken to resolve the banana dispute between the EU and the US. [103946]
Mr. Caborn:
The UK strongly encouraged the Commission to come forward with a formal proposal for a revised banana regime which ends the banana dispute once and for all and which meets the needs of the
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vulnerable banana producers. Since the Commission's proposal was tabled in November, we have been urging them to consult quickly with the relevant parties, including the US, so that a revised and acceptable banana regime is in place as soon as possible in 2000.
Mr. Sayeed:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will estimate the number of jobs that (a) have been lost and (b) are at risk due to the increased tariff on certain British foods as a result of the banana dispute between the EU and the US. [103948]
Mr. Caborn:
There are no British food exports on the list of products to which the United States has applied retaliatory duties as a result of the EU-US banana dispute.
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