Letter to the Chair from the Foreign Secretary
Thank you for your letter of March 17 to the
former Foreign Secretary outlining the Quadripartite Committees'
thoughts on possible changes to the content and layout of the
Annual Report on Strategic Export Controls. Your suggestions are
very helpful. We are now considering these in more detail together
with suggestions put forward by both civil society and industry.
But I am confident that most of your suggestions can be delivered.
On the format, we are exploring how to make
the actual printed report focus more on the policy aspects of
export controls and the various regimes. We also have in mind
to provide all statistical data in an electronic form. We will
of course seek to avoid a repeat of last year and ensure that
both the hardcopy report and the CD are published simultaneously.
We also plan to make the CD more user friendly, and to have the
consolidated statistics it contains made available on the Internet
at the same time.
Altering the format and content of the report
will, we hope, create a better understanding of how we approach
our export control and export licensing commitments. It will also
better reflect the advances we have made in the provision of better
and more real-time information to both Parliament and public.
We feel this is a natural development for the report. I hope that
the Committee will agree that our thinking on proposed changes
represents a further step in ensuring that our Annual Report on
Strategic Export Controls remains a prime example of open government.
I very much see this process of review and improvement as an on-going
process, and would value the Committee's continued engagement
on this issue. We take very seriously our responsibility towards
the Committee and will continue to do our very best at serving
its needs.
I am glad that Kim Howells, who is, as you
know, the Minister responsible for export control policy at the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was able to appear before the
Committee on 25 April. I know that this session covered a number
of important issues We shall, of course, be responding to the
Committee soon on those areas where we promised additional information.
June 2006
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