Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2024 to Question 13191 on Exports: Ukraine, which Departments he is waiting to receive advice on before concluding this export licence application; and what steps his Department is taking to hasten advice.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) is comprised of experts in the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The FCDO advises DBT on the situation in country and the risks this poses with respect to the UK's export control responsibilities. The MOD advises DBT on the risks of diversion of exported goods and national security risks arising from hostile state activity. As the decision-making authority for all export licensing decisions DBT takes advice from both Departments and is in daily contact with them where necessary to ensure that process happens as quickly as possible.
Exporters are advised in the first instance to contact the ECJU Licensing Unit, as they will be able to provide further updates on the progress of their applications and comment on any specific cases they would like to raise.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many export licence applications related to Ukraine are still being assessed (a) three months and (b) six months after submission.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The processing of all export licence applications to Ukraine is being prioritised by ECJU. Within that process, applications for the export of equipment organised between the UK Government and the government of Ukraine through Ministry of Defence procurement mechanisms are given the highest priority.
As with all export licence applications, assessments are made on a case-by-case basis according to the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. Assessments for Ukraine, given the situation within the country and the nature of the goods often being exported, mean these cases are some of the most complex for ECJU to process. Therefore, some can take longer to process than our public targets (to conclude 70% of standard individual export licence (SIEL) applications within 20 working days and 99% within 60 working days).
The volume of live applications changes daily, but the Government release statistics on export licensing decisions and processing times regularly and these can be broken down by end destination. The most recent statistics cover the period April to June 2024 and were published on 12 December. In that period, 36 (72%) SIELs for Ukraine were responded to within 20 working days and 45 (90%) were responded to within 60 working days.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent progress his Department has made on assessing the export application for Ukraine with ECO reference SIE2024/004708 and SPIRE document reference 4388747, submitted on 14 May 2024; and whether any further steps are required to bring this application to conclusion.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We rigorously assess every application on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria, the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (the SELC).
We are reviewing this case with other government departments and we will conclude our assessment once we receive that advice.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the investor-state dispute settlement measures in the Colombia-UK Bilateral Investment Treaty on the upholding of (a) environmental and (b) human rights protections in Colombia.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer the Hon. Member for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry to my response to Question 12968 on 12th November 2024: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-11-06/12968
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the UK's commitments under investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms on (a) environmental and (b) human rights protections in partner countries.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK is party to 83 Bilateral Investment Treaties and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership that contain Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).
ISDS provides an independent means to resolve disputes with states where investors believe they have experienced arbitrary, discriminatory or unfair treatment or expropriation without compensation. ISDS does not remove governments’ right to regulate in the public interest, including with respect to the environment and human rights.