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Caribbean Countries (Trade)

Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps were taken by his Department to revise European Union policy to protect the United Kingdom's trading relationship with Caribbean countries within World Trade Organisation rules during the period of the United Kingdom presidency. [79096]

Mr. Wilson: The UK's trading relationship with the Caribbean forms part of the wider EU relationship with the ACP countries (sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific) enshrined in the Lome Convention. This provides a framework for trade, aid and political relations with the ACP. Under Lome, ACPs have open access to the EU market for industrial goods and for a wide range of agricultural products.

The current (fourth) Lome Convention expires in 2000. A negotiating mandate for a new Convention was adopted under the UK Presidency at the General Affairs Council (GAC) on 29 June 1998. The Commission's draft mandate suggested that these new arrangements, after a 5-year roll-over of current arrangements to 2005, should be in the form of Free Trade Areas between the EU and groups (yet to be defined) of ACP countries. In response to the concerns of the UK and some other member states, the mandate as agreed by the Council commits us to examine the position of those ACPs not able to join in FTAs, in order to provide a new framework for trade which will offer them equivalent access to the EU market

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as at present under Lome. Whatever the final balance of arrangements, the EU will of course have to ensure that they are compatible with WTO rules.

Those ACP countries who are unable or unwilling to enter into FTA negotiations will still be eligible for the EU Generalised System of Preferences scheme which offers entry into the EU market with reduced import tariffs. However, these provisions are not as generous as Lome and the ACP have expressed concern that they will lose their market access. The UK as Presidency worked hard to ensure a mandate which clearly indicated that the ACP would retain equivalent market access under the GSP and that GSP terms would need to be improved during the review of the scheme in 2004.

We believe that these revisions reflect the interests of the Caribbean and our other Lome partners.

Departmental Staff (Ethnic Origin)

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will provide a breakdown, in numerical and percentage terms, of the ethnic origin, at 1 March, of (a) his private office, (b) Government special advisers, (c) his Policy Unit and (d) staff in total. [78506]

Mr. Byers: (a) On 1 March 1999, the DTI employed 71 staff in Private Offices and Parliamentary and Correspondence Sections, of whom 15 were known to be of ethnic minority origin (i.e. 21 per cent.).

(b) I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22 February 1999, Official Report, column 39.

(c) The Department does not have a separate Policy Unit.

(d) My right hon. Friend, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster will provide information in a written answer shortly.

Parental Leave

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what estimate he has made of the number of employees of (a) small and medium enterprises and (b) larger companies who will opt to take paternity leave each year; [76670]

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Mr. Byers [holding answer 16 March 1999]: We shall be consulting on the detailed implementation. Only when this has been completed can a realistic estimate be made of the Parental Leave Directive.

Millennium Compliance

Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the effect on British companies and information technology users of the legislation introduced in the United States of America limiting the liability and damages that can be awarded in millennium bug-related cases. [78871]

Mr. Wills: The so-called 'Good Samaritan' legislation in the United States of America, which provides companies with limited liability protection for certain statements regarding Year 2000 compliance, is designed to stimulate public disclosure of those companies' millennium bug preparations. It has been suggested that this limited protection may lead companies and individuals to seek redress in overseas countries such as the UK. My Department has considered this issue and concluded that there is no substantive evidence to suggest that UK companies will as a result be exposed to a greater risk of litigation. I believe that, in practice, the 'Good Samaritan' legislation has to date provided no protection for US companies in lawsuits about the Bug.

Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will assess the advantages and disadvantages of introducing legislation to limit the liability and damages that can be awarded in millennium bug-related cases. [78870]

Mr. Wills: This issue has been addressed within my Department in consideration of preparations for the millennium. It is possible that the introduction of limitations of this type would encourage companies to divulge additional information on their state of readiness, but this could unreasonably limit the availability of existing remedies available to consumers under, for example, the Sale of Goods Act 1979. The issue of disclosure in the UK is being addressed by Action 2000's Pledge 2000, whereby companies can make declarations of intent confirming their commitment to exchange information to allow others in their supply chains to prepare for the Year 2000, and to using dispute resolution outside the courts wherever possible. I believe that, on balance, the case for further legislation of this type has not been made.

Export Controls

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 15 March 1999, Official Report, column 475, on export controls, what amount of the debt arising from Export Credits Guarantee Department claims were repaid between November 1997 and February 1999 by the Governments of (a) Algeria and (b) Jordan. [78951]

Mr. Wilson: In the period from 1 November 1997 to 28 February 1999 Algeria paid £1 million of principal and £19 million of interest under the UK/Algeria

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Debt Agreements. Under the current UK/Jordan Debt Agreements principal repayments do not commence until June 1999. Interest paid during the period amounted to some £23 million.

Competitiveness

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the business leaders who have contributed to the six competitiveness working parties. [77790]

Mr. Byers [holding answer 25 March 1999]: The following people were members of the six competitiveness Working Parties:


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