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Cotton Importation

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps her Department is taking to establish a certification process for the import of cotton from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [99715]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 3 March 2003]: No steps are being taken to establish a certification process for the import of cotton from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Trade measures such as the introduction of a certification regime on imported products fall within the competence of the European Community and not at UK level.

Export Credit Guarantees

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which UK companies have received Export Credit Guarantees Department support relating to aviation development in Africa since 1997; and what the (a) location and (b) project type was in each case. [102795]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 14 March 2003]: ECGD has provided support for one project relating to aviation development in Africa since 1997. Support was provided to Skanska Africa who were part of a consortium upgrading Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana.

ECGD has also supported a number of other aerospace related projects in Africa, including civil airliners and flight simulators.

Import Controls (Congo)

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps are being taken to implement effective regulatory import controls on natural resources from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (a) directly and (b) via other states, to the UK; and if she will make a statement. [99716]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 3 March 2003]: No steps are being taken to implement regulatory import controls on natural resources from the Democratic Republic of the Congo received into the UK directly or via other states. Trade measures such as regulatory import controls fall within the competence of the European Community and not at the UK level.

Iraq (Falluja Chemical Plant)

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) financial and (b) other assistance was

17 Mar 2003 : Column 522W

given by the UK Government between 1980 and 1990 for the construction of the Falluja 2 chemical plant in Iraq; and if she will make a statement. [102434]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 12 March 2003]: In 1985 the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) provided export credit insurance in support of a £15 million contract by UHDE Ltd., a UK subsidiary of a West German company, for the design supply and supervision of the erection and commissioning of a Chlorine-Alkali-Electrolysis plant at Falluja, Iraq.

This contract was fully investigated in the 1996 report on the inquiry into the export of defence equipment and dual-use goods to Iraq and related prosecutions by the then Sir Richard Scott (now Lord Scott of Foscote) which concluded that "a unilateral ban by the UK on the export of such plant or chemicals to Iraq would have achieved nothing useful".

Official Visits

Dr. Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 3 March, ref. 99985, if she will list the official visits to (a) companies, (b) universities and (c) organisations by (i) the Minister for Science and (ii) the Chief Scientific Adviser in the last six months. [101709]

Ms Hewitt: My noble Friend the Minister for Science, regularly meets representatives from various companies and institutions at his office in the Department of Trade and Industry and at other neutral venues, for example conference centres. We have defined the term 'visit' to mean an occasion when the event was hosted, wholly or in part, by the organisation at whose venue the event was held. This could mean that the Minister met at least one representative from the host organisation as part of the visit even if the actual event was for a different purpose.

For example:

10 September: University of Leicester (British Association Science Festival)—Leicester

In the last six months, the Minister for Science has visited the following:

Companies:

11 September: TAG McLaren Group—Woking, Surrey

13 September: Micro Chemicals Systems Ltd.—Hull

13 September: Reckitt Beckinser Healthcare Ltd.—Shine Knowledge and Innovation Park—Hull

13 September: Europarc Innovation Centre—Hull

19 September: Airbus UK—Filton, Bristol

26 September: Peakdale Molecular Ltd.—Peakdale Science Park, High Peak

16 October: Kent Innovation Centre—Broadstairs, Kent

22 October: Panda Electronics Group—Nanjing, China

28 October: SK Telecom—Seoul, South Korea

8 November: Inmarsat Ltd.—London EC1

22 November: COM DEV Europe Ltd.—Triangle Business Park, Aylesbury, Bucks

23 January: Manchester Incubator Ltd.—Manchester Innovation Ltd.—Manchester

23 January: Renovo Ltd.—Manchester

23 January: Kaiku Ltd.—Manchester Science Park

17 Mar 2003 : Column 523W

Universities:

6 September: City University (International Spinal Research Trust's Conference)—London EC1

10 September: University of Leicester (British Association Science Festival)—Leicester

18 September: Imperial College (AURIL Conference)—South Kensington, London

7 October: University of Surrey—Advanced Technology Institute and Centre for Vision—Guildford, Surrey

10 October: Queen Mary College, University of London—Medical Engineering Laboratories—London, E1

23 October: Nanjing South East University—China

23 October: Nanjing University—China

20 November: University of Cambridge—Cambridge

8 January: University of Surrey (Higher Education Working with Business and the

Community Conference)—Guildford, Surrey

13 January: Institute of Education, University of London—London, WC1

16 January: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine—London, WC1

7 February: Cranfield University—Cranfield Innovation Centre—Cranfield, Bedfordshire

12 February: University of Birmingham—School of Engineering—Birmingham

17 February: London Metropolitan University—London E1 and N7

26 February: University of Cambridge—Centre of Molecular Materials for Photonics and Electronics—Cambridge Science Park

Organisations:

6 September: Engineering and Techonlogy Board—London, WC2

9 September: Institute of Electrical Engineers—London, WC2

20 September: The British Library—London, NW1

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24 September: Darwin Centre—Natural History Museum, London, SW7

25 September: The Carbon Trust—London, WC2

4 October—The Ministry for Young People, Education and Research, with Mme Haignere, Minister for Space, Technology and Research—Paris, France

14 October: Universities UK—London, WC1

22 October: Jiangsu Software Park—Nanjing, China

29 October: Korea Games Development Institute—Seoul, South Korea

29 October: Seoul Metropolitan City Government—Seoul, South Korea

31 October: The Royal Society (The Ninth Zuckerman Lecture)—London, SW1

5 November: The British Bankers Association—London, EC1

7 November: The Royal Society (Content Management Network Meeting)—London, SW1

13 November—The Royal Aeronautical Society—London NW1

20 November: Medical Research Council: Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit—Cambridge

29 November: Culham Science Centre—Abingdon, Oxfordshire

13 December: Daresbury Laboratory—Daresbury, Cheshire

17 January: Nature Magazine—Exterior of founding Editor's house, London, SW5

27 January: The Royal Society/The Daily Telegraph/Novartis 'Scientists meet the media' reception at The Royal Society—London, SW1

11 February: Institute of Electrical Engineers—London, WC2

14 February: Institute of Electrical Engineers—London, WC2

21 February: The Royal Society (The Engineer of the 21st Century Inquiry launch)—London, SW1

26 February: The Royal Society (Athena Awards)—London, SW1

The visits undertaken by Professor Sir David King during the period 5 September 2002 to 5 March 2003 were:

Place	Date	Nature of visit
Stockholm	5–7 September 2002	Speech—The Royal Institute of Technology: 175 year Jubilee
Rayne Institute, 5 University Street, London WC 1E 6JJ	9 September 2002	Speech—Biomedical Society
University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester	12 September 2002	Speech—BA Science Festival and tour
Royal Society	24 September 2002	Lunch meeting with Lord May
Washington DC, Boston, USA	3–8 October 2002	Speech: "Science in the UK Government—A View from the Centre", meet with key science figures in Washington
University of Sussex	9 October 2002	Speech—"The Marie Jahoda Lecture" at SPRU
Imperial College London	28 October 2002	Speech—Graduate School at Imperial College—"Science in the UK today"
Unilever House, London	27 November 2002	Chairman's annual reception, Unilever
South Africa	3–8 December 2002	Speech—"Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference", S&T promotion
Royal Society, London	9 January 2003	Breakfast meeting with Lord May
Cambridge	6 February 2003	Tour of the British Antarctic Survey
London	10 February 2003	IEE board of Trustees' dinner
Linacre College, Oxford	13 February 2003	Speech—"Linacre lecture"
Federation House, London	18 February 2003	Speech—and dinner at the Food Association
Belfast and Dublin	19–20 February 2003	Speech—"Science at a Nation's Core: A View From The Centre of Government"
Chicago, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Washington DC, USA	23–27 February 2003	Speech, meeting government officials, promoting UK S&T and visiting major research facilities
Brussels, Belgium	4–5 March 2003	Speech: "Fusion and the Energy Choices" for Europe Conference at the European Parliament, meeting the European Research Commissioner

17 Mar 2003 : Column 525W

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 3 March, if she will list the official visits to (a) companies, (b) universities and (c) organisations by (i) the Minister for Science and (ii) the Chief Scientific Adviser in each of the last three months. [102996]

Ms Hewitt: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him today to question No. 101709.

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