Examination of Witness (Questions
60-62)
IAN PEARSON
MP, MR JOHN
DODDRELL AND
MS JAYNE
CARPENTER
21 JANUARY 2009
Q60 Chairman: That will also go down
as a "Bercow comment".
Ian Pearson: I am told that we
are aiming for April, so that is going to be pretty quick, but
obviously we wanted to seek to consult with people to make sure
that it is helpful in terms of those who want to use it as well.
Q61 Chairman: Thank you. My final
question is that the Committee have on a number of occasions suggested
that the Government carry out some research on the effectiveness
of the export control system, purely as good practice. The last
time we suggested this, the Government's response to the Committee
was that the Government was still considering commissioning a
study but was basically looking into that. Is that still under
consideration? Are there any terms of reference? Where are we
now?
Ian Pearson: Yes, it is under
consideration. I would like to see it happen. I have discussed
it with officials in the run-up to appearing before you today
and I think there is a good case that this is an acceptable use
of public funds. There are some figures that get bandied about
at the moment in terms of non compliance which worry me, because
I do not think that they reflect the reality. On specific facts
and figures, because I think it might be helpful to the Committee,
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs regularly retain dual-use goods
at the frontier to establish whether the necessary licences are
in place, and in 2007, on the figures I have, HMRC detained goods
at port on 969 occasions. On 88% of these occasions goods were
found not to require a licence at all, but of those that did require
a licence only 25% or 3% of the overall total required a dual-use
licence. These figures suggest a much smaller problem than some
of the figures that have been bandied around previously. When
it comes to the specific point, I do think that it would be a
sensible use of public money to have a study that looked at non
compliance in the dual-use sector. Whether the Committee were
thinking about a wider study I do not know, but specifically with
regard to the dual-use sector I think this is an area where we
should be commissioning some research.
Q62 Chairman: Thank you very much
indeed, Minister. I would like to thank you, Mr Doddrell and Ms
Carpenter for coming to our Committee. We have raised a number
of questions and there will be other questions no doubt that we
will wish to write to you about. Particularly on the earlier discussion,
you will appreciate the concerns that the Committee has about
the Government's policy in that area and so any response on those
issues as quickly as possible would be very much appreciated.
Ian Pearson: We will certainly
endeavour to do all that we have said we will do during this Committee
Stage. Thank you, as always, for the courteous way in which you
have probed me and my officials in this area. As I say, just as
a parting comment, I do believe that we have one of the best export
control regimes to be found anywhere in the world. That is not
to say that it cannot be improved. I think through scrutiny these
things can be improved, and we appreciate the work of this Committee
and its predecessor the Quadripartite Committee in helping us
do just that.
Chairman: Thank you.
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