Written question asked by Andrew Dismore (Labour) on Friday, 20 October 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 24 October 2006. It was answered by Geoffrey Hoon (Labour) on Tuesday, 31 October 2006 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Cyprus

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what estimate she has made of how many UK flagged vessels were prevented from calling at Turkish ports because they (a) had previously called at a Cyprus port, (b) were managed by a Cyprus-based company, (c) were insured through a Cyprus company and (d) carried a cargo of Cyprus origin in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement;

Answer: We do not hold detailed information on the scope of the Turkish restrictions and their application to Republic of Cyprus vessels and we are not aware of any UK flag vessels being prevented from calling at Turkish ports under any of the circumstances cited. We have not made an assessment of the impact of these restrictions on the cost of shipping in the EU or the cost and availability to the EU of the shipping of oil from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. For a statement, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 30 October 2006 (UIN 96907).

Secondary information