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Exports (Indonesia)
Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 6 May 1999, Official Report, column 450, concerning ECGD liabilities in respect of exports in Indonesia if he will list (i) the unrecovered claims, (ii) the proportion of the unrecovered claims which relates to military exports and (iii) the unrecovered claims which ECGD expects to be written off. [85848]
{**con**}{**/con**}
Mr. Wilson: (i)
Details of the unrecovered claims arising in contracts involving exports to Indonesia are classified as "commercial in confidence" and cannot, therefore, be disclosed by ECGD without the consent of the individual exporters concerned.
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(ii) The proportion of the unrecovered claims of £48 million which related to military exports was 52 per cent. (value £25 million).
(iii) ECGD expects that no unrecovered claims will be written off. It is expected that a full recovery will be made under the provisions of a bilateral rescheduling currently being negotiated between the UK and Indonesia. This bilateral debt agreement is intended to cover debt in relation to both civil and military contracts signed prior to 1 July 1997, and the debt to be restructured over the period to 31 March 2000 amounts to some £240 million.
Mrs. Dean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he plans to respond to the report of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission on the selling of raw milk. [86025]
Dr. Howells:
I refer my hon. Friend to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry's answer to the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath), on 6 May 1999, Official Report, column 1069.
Mr. Fallon:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions his officials have had with the BBC on its commercial policy guidelines; and if the guidelines were subject to prior approval by (a) his Department and (b) the Office of Fair Trading. [85893]
Dr. Howells:
DTI officials have not had discussions with the BBC on its commercial policy guidelines, which were not subject to prior approval either by the Department or by the Office of Fair Trading.
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people in his Department and its associated bodies and agencies have benefited from the introduction of a national minimum wage. [86088]
Mr. Ian McCartney:
The lowest rate of pay for any staff in the Department increased from £7,785 to £7,900 per annum with effect from 1 April 1999. 170 staff benefited from this increase.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what system has been established for the end-use monitoring of military equipment sold to the Government of Indonesia in the last five years. [85970]
Mr. Hoon:
I have been asked to reply.
No formal mechanisms exist at present for systematically monitoring the use of British defence equipment once it has been exported. We have made clear to the Indonesian authorities that British-supplied equipment should not be used against civilians to prevent the exercise of their rights of free expression, assembly and association, or in violation of other international human rights standards.
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Joan Ruddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to her answer of 15 February 1999, Official Report, column 424, on genetically modified crops, if she will make a statement on the progress of the research on the potential impact on farmers in developing countries of the increased use of genetically modified crops. [85489]
Clare Short:
Later this year we will publish a progress report on our natural resources knowledge activities, including details of those studies which address genetic modification issues of concern and interest to developing countries. The three-year research project on the potential risks of introducing transgenic plants into traditional cropping systems, referred to in my earlier answer, began in April 1999. Results are not yet available. A short, predictive study of the potential effects on the livelihoods of poor people in developing countries of so-called "terminator" gene technologies is to be commissioned shortly for completion by the end of this year.
Mr. Kaufman:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the sums of debt owed to the United Kingdom by each developing country. [85525]
Clare Short:
The figures below show the amounts owed by governments of developing countries to the Department for International Development and to the Export Credits Guarantee Department.
(11) As of May 1999
(12) As of March 1999
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Kashmir
Ann Clwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid has been provided to Kashmir by her Department since 1997. [85828]
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Clare Short:
Since 1997, we have provided £650,000 to the International Committee of the Red Cross for their humanitarian assistance programme in Jammu and Kashmir and £132,500 to the Save the Children Fund to support their work there. In addition, about £19,000 has been provided under the Small Grants Scheme to help equip a maternity hospital in Anantnag.
Mr. Mullin:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what position Her Majesty's Government have taken on the proposal that the World Bank should fund the Chinese Western Poverty Reduction Project; and if she will make a statement. [85664]
Clare Short:
The World Bank's staff appraisal report on this project became available at the end of last week and has just been received in London. It is now being studied. I will write to my hon. Friend when an assessment has been made of the merits of the proposal.
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people in his Department and its associated bodies and agencies have benefited from the introduction of a national minimum wage. [86094]
Clare Short:
None of the staff in my Department have been affected by the introduction of a national minimum wage. The current rates for our lowest paid staff in the UK are as follows:
| Grade | Rate per hour £ |
|---|---|
| C2 Grade (National rate) | 3.72 |
| C2 Grade (London rate) | 4.96 |
| Cleaner (London rate) | 4.35 |
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