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Meat and Bone Meal Fertilisers

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the quantity of mammalian meat and bone meal fertilisers spread on land since August 1988. [31196]

Mrs. Browning: The information is not collected centrally. An industry estimate of the quantity of mammalian meat and bone meal fertilisers used is 4,000 tonnes per year, of which 10 per cent. was spread on agricultural land.

Dairy Cows

Mr. Cann: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what reports he has received that dairy cows older than 30 months are being auctioned at markets for sums less than the Government slaughter compensation price, with particular reference to Holsworthy in north Devon. [33118]

Mr. Baldry: Compensation is paid by the Intervention Board to approved collection centres, which may be abattoirs or liveweight markets, when eligible animals are presented for slaughter at designated abattoirs. The scheme rules do not prevent producers from selling their animals at agreed prices below the compensation rate and I am aware that some have done so.

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Listeria

Mr. Callaghan: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will conduct an inquiry into listeria contamination of milk. [35060]

Mrs. Browning: I know of no grounds for such an inquiry. Proper heat treatment effectively destroys any listeria contamination in raw milk and the vast majority of milk undergoes a heat treatment. In addition, there are strict hygiene controls on production and processing of milk under the Dairy Products (Hygiene) Regulations 1995.

Packaging Waste

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent discussions he has had with the British Agrochemicals Association concerning the implementation of the packaging and packaging waste directive (94/92/EC). [34740]

Mr. Clappison: I have been asked to reply.

None. I intend to publish shortly a consultation paper on our proposals in this area and to send copies to business organisations, including the British Agrochemicals Association.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Iraq and Iran

Mr. Parry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions Her Majesty's Government have taken in respect of missing (a) Kuwaiti and Iranian prisoners of war in Iraq and (b) Iraqi prisoners of war in Iran; and if he will make a statement. [34030]

Mr. Hanley: We urge Iraq and Iran to fulfil their obligations under the relevant UN resolutions covering prisoners of war and support the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross. At meetings of the ICRC's tripartite commission and its technical sub-committee, we have repeatedly pressed the Iraqis about their failure to account for the Kuwaiti and other nationals detained in Iraq after the Gulf war and still unaccounted for.

Immigration

Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what decision was taken on applications made to the British post in Islamabad by Tahira Jabeen, Fazal ur Rahman Hussain and Noor ur Rahman Hussain, Ref: Con/5267, for British passports; on what date the applications were made; on what date the Home Office in London was asked to make inquiries in the United Kingdom; on what date he received information about those inquiries; and if he will make a statement. [35232]

Mr. Hanley: No decision has been taken on the passport applications made by Tahira Jabeen, Fazal ur Rahman Hussain and Noor ur Rahman Hussain, to the British high commission in Islamabad. The three applications remain under consideration:

The applications were made on 13 December 1994 and the applicants interviewed on 2 October 1995.

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Inquiries were made of the Home Office on 3 October 1995 and a response was received on 19 November 1995.

Visa Applications

Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications for the issue of visas to Russian citizens to visit the United Kingdom were received by the British embassy in Moscow and the consulate in St. Petersburg, in each year from 1991 to 1994 and in the current year to date. [35235]

Mr. Hanley: Applications for United Kingdom visas received by the British embassy in Moscow and the British consulate general in St. Petersburg from 1991 to the present date were:

	Moscow	St. Petersburg
1991	57,834	Nil
1992	50,303	Nil
1993	61,367	1,429
1994	86,661	16,658
1995	95,850	18,059
1996	40,974	3,903

The 1996 figures for Moscow are correct as at 31 May 1996, and for St. Petersburg as at 31 March 1996. St. Petersburg started its entry clearance operation on 17 November 1993.

Kashmir

Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of (a) the extent to which the elections held in Kashmir during May were properly conducted and were free and fair and (b) the accuracy of the official estimates of turnouts; and if he will make a statement. [35032]

Mr. Hanley [holding answer 1 July 1996]: Given the complex conditions in the Kashmir valley, we are not in a position to make a clear-cut evaluation of the conduct of the elections, or to say we agree or disagree with the official estimates of turnouts.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Appeal Court

Mr. William O'Brien: To ask the Attorney-General (1) how many cases referred to the Court of Appeal for sentence review in the last five years had the sentences (a) increased and (b) reduced; and if he will make a statement; [35311]

(2) how many sentences were referred to the Appeal Court for review in the last five years. [35351]

The Attorney-General: During the last five years 232 cases were referred to the Court of Appeal in England and Wales and 10 in Northern Ireland. Twelve were subsequently withdrawn in England and Wales and one in Northern Ireland. To date, 200 of those cases have been heard by the Court of Appeal. Sentence has increased in 172 cases out of 200 or 86 per cent. No case resulted in a reduced sentence.

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PRIME MINISTER

Group of Seven Summit

Mr. Peter Atkinson: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the outcome of the G7 summit at Lyon. [35352]

The Prime Minister: I attended the Lyon summit on 27 to 29 June with my right hon. and learned Friends, the Foreign Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

I have placed in the Library of the House the communique, the chairman's statement and other statements and documents issued by the summit.

The summit started with a discussion of economic matters among the G7. In President Yeltsin's absence, we were joined by the Russian Prime Minister, Mr. Chernomyrdin, for a discussion of wider international issues. After the formal conclusion of the summit, we held a meeting with the United Nations Secretary-General and the heads of the International Monetary Fund, World bank and World Trade Organisation to discuss the role of the international institutions, in particular on development.

On the first evening we agreed and issued a declaration on terrorism, condemning the appalling attack in Dhahran and other recent terrorist outrages. We pledged ourselves to fight terrorism by all legal means and agreed that the relevant Ministers should meet in Paris in July to discuss further action. My right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary plans to lead the United Kingdom delegation.

Discussion of the world economy demonstrated the extent to which the United Kingdom's economic policy agenda is now shared by all our partners in the G7. Although growth has slowed in some countries since last year, it is picking up again. Unemployment remains higher than many of us would wish, particularly in continental Europe, but we agreed that the way to bring it down was by liberalising labour markets and through other supply side measures. This is reflected in the communique's endorsement of the conclusions of the G7 meeting in Lille earlier this year to discuss employment issues.

There was also consensus on the policies necessary to maintain international monetary stability. We endorsed the work done by Finance Ministers. Their report makes it clear that the key to stability is not management or fixing of exchange rates but sound domestic economic policies.

In Halifax last year we agreed steps to make the international financial institutions more effective. Many have now been taken and we welcomed the enhancement of the IMF's surveillance capacities and the agreement to increase the resources currently available to it under the general arrangement to borrow.

We recognised, however, the need to improve the co-operation between regulators of financial markets in the light of growth in the volume and speed of transactions. We agreed to study in more detail UK ideas for "lead regulators" of internationally active financial institutions. Officials will meet soon to discuss detailed proposals and Finance Ministers will report back to the Denver summit. We also agreed to co-operate more closely in combating financial crime.

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We also reviewed progress in reforming the UN. Significant steps had been taken: 1,000 jobs have been cut, with high level posts reduced by 23 per cent.; these were 25 per cent. fewer staff than 10 years ago; and the 1996-97 budget incorporated a 10 per cent. cut in real terms. But much remains to be done and we agreed to review the situation at next year's summit. In particular, a rationalisation of the UN's role in development is necessary to avoid duplication and overlap between its various agencies.

Under President Chirac's theme of globalisation, and with valuable contributions from the heads of the IMF, World bank and UN, we looked at the problems of poorer countries and how they could best be helped. In particular, we focused on the countries of sub-Saharan Africa.

We agreed that in the long run no amount of aid would help unless these countries were willing to help themselves. Aid nevertheless has a crucial role to play, as long as it is effective. It must therefore continue to be conditional on sensible adjustment policies and good government. In particular, we agreed that bilateral donors should reinforce the international financial institutions' efforts to discourage unproductive expenditure by modifying their own aid and export credit policies. Aid should also be targeted at the poorest and focused on basic human needs such as health and education.

Following up initiatives originally launched by the UK, including ideas floated in 1994 in Valetta, the summit endorsed further steps to offer a number of highly indebted poor countries an exit from their unsustainable debt burdens. The IMF will offer more concessional lending from the enhanced structural adjustment facility, to be funded primarily by optimising the management of the IMF's own reserves. The World bank has offered to contribute in the order of $2 billion from its own resources to this initiative. We called on bilateral creditors to improve on the existing Naples terms which allow remission of up to 67 per cent. on a country's debts.

In discussion of trade, we reaffirmed our desire for further liberalisation on the agenda for the forthcoming meeting of World Trade Organisation Trade Ministers in Singapore, including new tariff initiatives. Many of us made clear to President Clinton our deep concern at recent US legislation of a extraterritorial nature relating to Cuba. Unilateral measures of this kind are a serious threat to an open world training system.

We discussed a wide range of global and political issues with Prime Minister Chernomyrdin. He briefed us on the prospects for the second round of the presidential elections in Russia. We welcomed the progress made on nuclear safety and security at the Moscow summit last April, and urged all countries to examine closely the 40 recommendations on combating transnational organised crime drawn up by our experts following the remit we gave them in Halifax.

There was considerable discussion of environmental issues. We agreed it was essential to maintain the impetus following from Rio and to play a positive role in the UN General Assembly's special session on the environment next June.

In pursuing non-proliferation, we affirmed our undertaking to conclude a comprehensive test ban treaty

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by the start of the next session of the UN General Assembly. We also called on all states to make every effort to secure a global ban on the proliferation and indiscriminate use of anti-personnel land mines, and welcomed the bans already adopted by some countries, including the UK, on the production, use and export of these weapons.

A separate declaration was issued on Bosnia and Herzegovina which emphasised that the prime responsibility for implementations of the Dayton agreement lies with the different communities and their leaders, and underlined the importance of the elections due to take place on 14 September. These should take place on time, in free and fair conditions. We also made clear our insistence that Karadzic step down immediately and permanently from all public functions and take no part in governmental decisions. We reaffirmed the importance of all those indicted by the international war crimes tribunal appearing in The Hague for trial. We warned of the costs of non-compliance with Dayton in terms of sanctions and the availability of economic assistance. We also pledged our full support for Carl Bildt, the high representative, and for efforts to accelerate economic reconstruction in order to encourage co-operation and reconciliation between the different communities.

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