Clause 15 - Short title, etc
Export Control Bill
10:00 am
Mr Nigel Griffiths (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry; Edinburgh South, Labour)
I, too, am glad that the issue has been raised, and I am grateful to the hon. Member for Twickenham for doing so. My hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West is right in his interpretation of the Bill, in that the effect of the amendment would be to risk preventing clause 15(5) being exercised after 40 days past Royal Assent.
That is the technical reason for our rejection of the amendment. Let me seek to persuade the hon. Member for Twickenham that he should withdraw it on principle. We have received firm and detailed assurances from the Isle of Man authorities that they will be giving full effect, through Manx legislation, to all the controls made in or under the Bill, including the new controls to be imposed on arms trafficking and brokering in terms of transfers and technical assistance. That is in accordance with the 1979 Customs and Excise agreement that governs the customs union between the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man and which obliges the Isle of Man to maintain export controls parallel to those operating in the UK.
The Miltec case was mentioned and I believe that, following that case, procedures were tightened for the imposition of embargoes in the Isle of Man. In respect of the other territories, we have no reason to believe that any of them will be unable to implement similar controls by means of their own legislation. The inclusion of a permissive extent provision at clause 15(5) is therefore essentially a precautionary measure. I hope that, in the light of that explanation, the hon. Gentleman feels able to withdraw the amendment.