Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what his policy is on companies moving their registration overseas when they have been found in breach of export licence conditions and the Government has imposed a requirement that they return the exported goods to the UK with which they have not complied.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The registration of a business is generally a matter for its owners. However, if they are UK legal or natural persons active in the Maritime Anti-Piracy sector, they are still subject to UK Export Licensing legislation. The only requirement under existing UK licensing provisions is for Private Maritime Security Companies to make an application to use alternative approved storage for controlled goods. The enforcement of export licensing is a matter for His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how the Government assesses the (a) effectiveness and (b) impact of sanctions policies.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
UK sanctions are designed and targeted to deter and disrupt malign behaviour, and to demonstrate our defence of fundamental principles, including democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The FCDO conducts reviews of the effectiveness and impact of our sanctions regimes. Any assessment will depend on the intended purposes of each individual regime - which are set out in the regulations for that regime. For example on Russia we consider wider macro-economic impacts, reduction in UK exports and imports and wider changes to trading patterns, changes to designated persons' behaviour, volume of frozen assets, and alignment with international partners. I launched a cross-Government review of sanctions enforcement with the support of Ministers from His Majesty's Treasury, the Department of Business and Trade, the Department for Transport and the Home Office. Through this review the Government will consider whether we have the right powers, approach, capacity and resourcing on policy, implementation and enforcement of sanctions.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to review the export control licensing process for vessel based armouries.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As with all export licences, the Department for Business and Trade keeps the licensing of the Maritime Anti-Piracy Sector under continual review.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure effective cross-government working on (a) sanctions and (b) export controls (i) policy, (ii) implementation and (iii) enforcement between (A) his Department's Sanctions Directorate, (B) the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation, (C) the Office for Trade Sanctions Implementation, (D) the Export Controls Joint Unit and (E) HMRC.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In October, I convened the first Small Ministerial Group on sanctions, which launched a cross-Government review to examine whether we have the right powers, approach, capacity and resourcing on policy, implementation and enforcement, with an urgent focus on strengthening the latter. This grouping brings together key sanctions Departments: the FCDO; His Majesty's Treasury (with responsibility for both the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation and HMRC); the Department for Business and Trade (with responsibility for the Office for Trade Sanctions Implementation and shared responsibility for the Export Controls Joint Unit with the Ministry of Defence and FCDO); the Department for Transport; and the Home Office.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, on how many occasions and for what reasons MNG Maritime was granted extensions to the deadline to return to the UK the weapons stored in the Vessel Based Armouries it operated following his Department’s revocation of six export licences allowing the company to operate three vessel-based armouries storing weapons for private maritime security companies in July 2023.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In the event that a licence for a Vessel Based Armoury (VBA) is revoked, it is the responsibility of the Private Maritime Security Companies which make use of the affected VBA to arrange transfers of controlled goods to alternative, and appropriately licensed, armouries.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what (a) country and sector policy specialist, (b) legal, (c) administrative, (d) compliance, (e) enforcement, (f) industry engagement, (g) budgetary and (h) other resources he has allocated to the Office for Trade Sanctions Implementation.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Office for Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI) has recruited people with a wide range of professional experience from across government and the private sector to fulfil OTSI’s responsibilities of policy, licensing and enforcement of certain trade sanctions, and industry engagement, along with financial management, project delivery and business support specialists. OTSI is also supported by legal, analytical and digital experts.
OTSI is funded from the £50m Economic Deterrence Initiative (EDI) for 2023/24 and 2024/25. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is expected to publish more information on the EDI in the near future.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what (a) training and (b) support his Department plans to provide to businesses in respect of the new Office for Trade Sanctions Implementation.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Office for Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI) will support businesses to meet their obligations under the UK’s trade sanctions regime through issuing guidance and engaging with a range of sectors and businesses.
OTSI has already undertaken a major programme of industry engagement and outreach and is committed to ongoing business engagement to support compliance. OTSI has already published a suite of online guidance for businesses and launched new online tools which make it easier to report a breach and apply for a licence.
OTSI is committed to supporting businesses to comply with trade sanctions by improving existing guidance as well as creating and promulgating new guidance, where necessary.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the Office for Trade Sanctions will publish an annual report.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Office for Trade Sanctions Implementation intends to publish an annual review covering an overview of its activities across the year, following the model set by similar units such as the Office for Financial Sanctions located in HM Treasury and the Export Control Joint Unit in the Department for Business and Trade.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make it his policy that vessel based armouries export licence applications should include an assessment of available alternative licensed storage facilities in the event that a licence is (a) suspended and (b) revoked.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Open General Trade Control Licence, which UK Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSCs) require for Maritime Anti-Piracy (MAP) operations, once granted, is open-ended for as long as the PMSC remains active in the MAP sector and is abiding by the terms of the licence. Licences can include provision for the storage of arms in approved land-based armouries as an alternative storage facility.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the US Inflation Reduction Act on UK businesses.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We have engaged with UK businesses across a range of sectors to understand their concerns about the potential impact of the US Inflation Reduction Act on UK industry. We have also engaged with the US on UK industry views across multiple channels on this issue, including in 2022 in response to the US Treasury consultation on the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, and remain committed to defending the interests of UK businesses.