Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make public the names of the companies which had licences approved to export dual-use chemicals that could be used as precursors to the production of chemical weapons to Syria.

The names of the companies which had licences approved to export dual-use chemicals that could be used as precursors to the production of chemical weapons to Syria cannot be disclosed. Following an assessment under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act the public interest, in the maintenance of the confidentiality and overall integrity of the export licensing system, on this occasion outweighs the public interest in the disclosure of the name of the exporter.