24 JUNE 2000, Page 34

Out of commission

THIS high-minded government is taking another swipe at British exporters. The Home Office wants to make it an offence to offer bribes in foreign countries. The exporters will no doubt find local agents and pay them by results. In the era of exchange control, the Bank of England had a list of countries where what it euphemistically called commission payments were part of the system of commerce. Exporters wanting to remit money to these countries would always have their applications waved through.