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Energy Policy
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is her latest assessment of the cost of the Scotland/England West Coast Interconnector. [64342]
Mr. Wilson: The possible costs are as set out in the study by PB Power, a copy of which is available on the Department of Trade and Industry's website at: www2.dti.gov.uk/energy/west—coast—interconnector—study.pdf
Patents
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the implications for United Kingdom domestic law of the decision of the European Court of Justice in Koninklijke Philips v. Remington. [64494]
Ms Hewitt: In its judgment of 18 June in the Koninklijke Philips v. Remington case, the European Court of Justice concluded that the Trade Marks Directive (implemented in the UK by the Trade Marks Act 1994) could not be used to protect product characteristics or technical features.
The European Court of Justice's decision is broadly consistent with the submissions of the Government and largely confirms existing UK practice.
Innovation of a technical or functional nature is protectable by patents. The maximum duration of a patent is 20 years (trade mark rights can be renewed without
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limit), after which inventions pass into the public domain for anyone to use or develop. This period of 20 years, which accords with international norms, represents a balance between encouraging inventors to develop new products by preventing others from using their inventions for a limited time, and encouraging competition by publishing full details of patented inventions so that they may be widely used when rights expire.
On the other hand, trade marks indicate the trade origin of goods. Allowing trade mark registrations to confer on proprietors an open-ended right to product characteristics or technical features would upset the balance created by the patent law.
Consignia v. Russell Sealy
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the policy implications of the decision of the Court of Appeal in Consignia plc v. Russell Sealy. [64493]
Mr. Timms: Having considered the decision there appear to be no policy implications.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Genetic Engineering (Vaccinations)
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the potential use of genetic engineering in plants to provide simple vaccinations for the developing world. [63916]
Clare Short: Research has shown that plants can be genetically engineered to produce substances with the potential to induce immune responses to several diseases of animals and people. But the prospect of plant-produced vaccines for the routine prevention of diseases of poverty is still a distant one. At present, an important challenge facing many developing countries is to strengthen their health service delivery systems to achieve and sustain high coverage with existing vaccines, which are safe and inexpensive. DFID contributes to this objective as a partner in the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and through its support for WHO, UNICEF and national Governments.
Bhutan
Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid the UK has given to Bhutan in each of the last five years. [64295]
Clare Short: The table lists aid disbursement to Bhutan from 1996–97:
| Year | £ |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 20,000 |
| 1997–98 | 92,000 |
| 1998–99 | 14,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 11,000 |
| 2000–01 | 1,000 |
| 2001–02 | (2)— |
(2) Not yet available
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Occupied Palestinian Territories
Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the impact the division of the occupied Palestinian territories into eight separate cantons has had on the humanitarian situation in the OPT. [64320]
Clare Short: Reports estimate that 50 per cent. of the population are currently living in poverty (under $2 a day), and per capita income continues to decline significantly. On-going and intensified Israeli restrictions will exacerbate this situation—restricting movement of people to work and products to markets, prohibiting access to basic services such as health and education, increasing unemployment, substantially reducing the ability of the Palestinian Authority to sustain essential social services, and inhibiting the work of international organisations and aid agencies.
Illegal Logging
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to develop a programme of action to follow on from the memorandum of understanding between the UK and Indonesia to combat illegal logging signed in April. [64352]
Clare Short: Since the signing of the memorandum of understanding on 18 April, DFID, in close conjunction with officials in other Government Departments, has taken a number of steps to implement the agreement.
In May, DFID officials visited Indonesia and agreed a detailed programme of action to implement the memorandum. Indonesian officials will visit the UK in July to finalise this programme. During this visit they will meet with British Government officials, representatives of the UK Timber Trades Federation and non-governmental organisations.
The exploitation of forest resources in Indonesia is subject to a very large number of inconsistent and often contradictory laws. Consolidated and revised legislation is not practical in the short to medium term. My Department has therefore also commissioned two consultancies (involving UK and Indonesian experts) to address two fundamental aspects of the agreement:
- the establishment of workable criteria to define legality; and
the identification of possible systems of mandatory compliance.
Partnership Programmes
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the (a) number and (b) cost of second round partnership programme agreements. [64691]
Clare Short: We are currently negotiating with four non-governmental organisations under our second round
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of partnership programme agreements. This is with a view to concluding negotiations within the next few weeks. Financial allocations under these agreements have not yet been finalised.
Development Policy Forum
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the content and conclusions of the Development Policy Forum in February. [64689]
Clare Short: The Development Policy Forum held in Belfast in February was the first in this year's series of 11 forums, which are being held in different parts of the UK. The process will conclude with the forum in Birmingham on 8 July, following which we will publish a report on the process, and on the key issues raised. This year's series of forums, which follow previous rounds in 1998 and 2000, have focused on development and trade, the role of the private sector, and sustainable development. Participants come from a wide range of backgrounds, and have participated in both plenary and workshop discussions of the issues. These are designed to deepen understanding of development, and to enable participants to share views and ideas on how to reduce global poverty. Feedback from participants on the process remains, as with previous rounds, very positive; and all participants will receive a copy of the report at the end of the process.
Food Aid (Southern Africa)
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to her answer of 19 June 2002, Official Report, column 387W, when she expects food aid distribution to extend to the six countries in southern Africa identified as facing severe food shortages. [64675]
Clare Short: Food distribution in the six countries involves for the most part scaling up existing responses, so it is already taking place. The World Food Programme tell us that they have a total of 100,000 tonnes of food aid in the pipeline for the region, with 25,000 tonnes either already in affected countries and being distributed, or due to arrive by 1 July. There are also NGO programmes which we and others are funding which are continuing earlier food interventions.
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to her answer of 19 June 2002, Official Report, column 387W, what her Department's contribution to the World Food Programme's regional appeal for Southern Africa was in respect of the 2002–03 harvest year. [64674]
Clare Short: We have committed £18.75 million to the WFP regional appeal in advance of its publication. This is part of an overall new commitment of £45 million from DFID's budget that we made on 17 June for six countries in southern Africa. My Department has also seconded a logistics expert to the World Food Programme office in Harare and is considering further support for WFP's co-ordinating unit in South Africa.
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