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Late Payment
Mr. Alexander:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the response by business to legislation on the late payment of debt. [71477]
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Mr. Wills:
Late payment has a devastating impact on Britain's small businesses. This Government are determined to improve the UK's payment culture to ensure that small businesses can thrive and prosper.
The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 commenced on 1 November 1998 and provides small suppliers with a statutory right to claim interest on late paid bills and transfers the cost of late payment from the supplier to the late payer.
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My Department is working with the Credit Management Research Group at Leeds University to monitor the legislation, although it is too early to draw conclusions about its impact. However, evidence from the recent Grant Thornton International/Business Strategies Ltd. survey has shown an improvement in the time taken by business in the UK to pay its bills. In addition, evidence from other European Countries that have introduced legislation shows that effective legislation can tackle late payment, particularly when supported by other measures.
Valerie Davey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how he will make the mortgage market more transparent for the benefit of consumers. [76352]
Mr. Byers:
Consumers need clear and comparable information about loan offers so they can identify the best deal. I shall be working with my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a package of measures to bring greater clarity, comparability and fairness to the marketing of mortgages and other types of credit.
We will shortly specify the way in which the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) for low-start and discount mortgages is calculated to require it to reflect the interest and total charges throughout the entire life of the loan. This will ensure that lenders advertise these products on a basis which will permit consumers to compare more easily the cost of one offer with another.
In the next two months, we shall also consult on proposals to limit the circumstances in which interest rates other than the APR can be shown in credit advertisements and pre-contractual information to those in which alternative interest rates give information which is of real use to consumers in choosing between products.
We are also consulting on a proposal to require warnings such as "Your home is at risk if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or other loan secured on it" to be shown in all pre-contractual information. This change will ensure that such warnings are included in brochures, pre-contractual letters and other documents which set out details of loan offers. If we implement this change, we shall remove the requirement for such warnings on advertisements between programmes on radio, television and cinema where they seem to be less useful for consumers.
We will shortly implement an EU Directive which requires only one formula to calculate the APR to be used throughout the European Union. This will enable consumers to make easy comparisons between different loan offers from lenders throughout Europe.
We will also extend the scope for bodies in addition to the Director General of Fair Trading to take injunctive action under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1994. Regulators, including the Financial Services Authority, as well as consumer bodies will receive these powers.
Over the next year, we will consult on further measures to improve consumer protection.
I am concerned that the current provisions on extortionate credit in the Consumer Credit Act 1974 do not adequately safeguard vulnerable consumers against
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the charging of unjust interest rates. DTI has commissioned research on which we shall base proposals to improve consumer protection in this crucial area.
We will also consult on a proposal to change Regulations on the terms on which loans are settled early, and to ensure that consumers know before they take out the loan the terms on which they can settle it. We propose to replace the Rule of 78 with a simpler formula which will be fair and equitable for consumers in a range of circumstances. We also propose to require reasonable indications of the terms of early settlement to be given in pre-contractual information so that consumers have another measure with which they can compare offers.
We will also review the regulation of credit advertising with the aim of making the regulations simpler and more sharply focused on requiring informative and truthful advertising.
Finally, we shall review the practice of exempting named mortgage lenders from the requirement to make regulated agreements under the Consumer Credit Act.
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received on the ability of British ski instructors to offer ski courses in France; and if he will make a statement. [74402]
Mr. Ian McCartney:
My Department has received representations from the British Association of Ski Instructors (BASI), and from individual ski instructors, about difficulties which British-qualified ski instructors have been experiencing when trying to work in France on the basis of the their British qualifications. The Government have been pursuing this matter with the French authorities over the past year. Progress has been slower than we would have wished, but BASI are now talking to representatives of French ski instructors, with the aim of developing a joint technical test. This may offer the prospect of significant progress towards resolving this issue. My Department will, however, continue to keep in close touch with BASI on developments.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish those parts of the World Trade Agreement that prevent the United Kingdom, or any member state of the European Community from restricting the import of foodstuffs from the United States of America, solely on the grounds of their genetically modified character; the date and place when the agreement was concluded; the names and status of those persons negotiating and signing that agreement on behalf of the United Kingdom; and when that part relating to the import of such foods was considered by Parliament. [73723]
Mr. Wilson:
Approval of genetically modified foodstuffs for importation into the EU is governed by EU legislation, specifically the Novel Foods Regulation (258/97/EC). The principles of this Regulation adhere to the WTO Agreement on Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, which recognises the right of members to take measures necessary for the protection of human, animal or plant health but requires that any trade
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measures are based on scientific principles and are not maintained without sufficient scientific evidence. This agreement formed part of the WTO Agreement which concluded the Uruguay round of multilateral trade negotiations on 15 December 1993. The WTO Agreement was negotiated by the European Commission in consultation with EC member states under the provisions of the EC Treaties. The Agreement was signed on behalf of the United Kingdom by Mr. Tim Sainsbury in Marrakesh on 15 April 1994. Under the Ponsonby rule, the Agreement was laid before Parliament in May 1994 and debated on 14 June 1994, Official Report, columns 521-601. The United Kingdom's instrument of Ratification to the WTO Agreement was deposited with the GATT Legal Adviser on 30 December 1994. For the EC, the WTO Agreement was accepted by means of a Council decision and assent given by the European Parliament. The Agreement entered into force on 1 January 1995. The main WTO Agreement was published as Treaty Series No. 57 of 1996 (Cm 3277), and the Agreement on Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures as No. 54 of 1996 (Cm 3275). The UK's certified copy of the WTO Agreement resides in the Public Record Office.
Mr. Pike:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what changes will be made to the cash limits for his Department. [76351]
Mr. Byers:
Further to my answer given to the House on 11 February 1999, Official Report, columns 412-13, and subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary revised supplementary estimate, the cash limit for Class V, Vote 2--Department of Trade and Industry: Science--will be increased by £15,000,000 from £1,367,459,000 to £1,382,459,000. This net increase results from additional provision of £15,000,000 for part funding of the University Challenge Fund.
This net increase will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
Mr. Alan Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the export credit guarantee cover given to non-military exports to Indonesia since May 1997. [74411]
Mr. Wilson:
Since 1 May 1997 ECGD has issued guarantees in respect of two civil projects in Indonesia.
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