House of Commons
Wednesday 12 November 2003
The House met at half-past Eleven o'clock
PRAYERS
[Mr. Speaker in the Chair]
Oral Answers to Questions
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Secretary of State was asked—
Cotonou Process
1. Tony Lloyd (Manchester, Central): If he will make a statement on the representations he has received about the development aspects of the Cotonou process. [137783]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr. Gareth Thomas): We are engaged in ongoing discussions with European partners and others on the future of European development and co-operation, including that provided to African, Caribbean and Pacific states under the Cotonou agreement. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will meet European partners to discuss that issue, among others, in Brussels on 17 November at the General Affairs and External Relations Council. My right hon. Friend has received a representation from Traidcraft on economic partnership agreements—the trade pillar of the Cotonou agreement—and the Department of Trade and Industry, which leads on this issue, holds regular meetings with non-governmental organisations on those negotiations to discuss their concerns.
Tony Lloyd : I am delighted to know that Traidcraft has made representations to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. Will the Minister confirm, however, that there is real concern among the NGOs—but, more importantly, among the ACP countries—that the Cotonou agreement may act to sabotage the gains that were made in Cancun? In particular, if the European Union sees the Cotonou agreement as a way to drive region-by-region agreements, to the disadvantage of the poorest people, it will be disastrous in development terms. Will he make it clear that the Government will not go down that road, but that we will instead offer ways to provide practical support to developing countries to ensure that they can negotiate properly with the EU?
Mr. Thomas: I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. As we have made clear in the House and as other members of the negotiating team have made clear,
getting the Doha development round talks back on track is absolutely fundamental to our agenda. In that context, we recognise that we have to start from where the negotiations left off, and not move off into the sort of regional or bilateral negotiations that have been feared by a number of countries. So we remain absolutely committed to getting multilateral negotiations back on track that seek to achieve the development objectives that my hon. Friend and, indeed, the developing countries want to see.
Michael Fabricant (Lichfield): Is not the real obstacle to the Cotonou process the subsidies that are provided to farmers in the EU and in the United States, producing unfair competition with farmers in Africa and other parts of the developing world? What can the Minister do, at least in the EU, to try to ensure that the common agricultural policy is reformed and still ensure that the US can lower its subsidies, too, as a consequence?
Mr. Thomas: The hon. Gentleman is broadly right about the importance of making progress to reduce the adverse impact of agricultural subsidies. I am sure that he will have welcomed the historic decision taken in June this year by the EU in respect of the CAP negotiations that allowed us to make progress at Cancun. We are also seeking to secure a reduction in subsidies in relation to other EU commodity regimes, such as those for cotton and sugar, to continue the sense of progress that is being made.
Colombia
2. Lynne Jones (Birmingham, Selly Oak): What progress is being made in Colombia towards the achievement of millennium development goals. [137784]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr. Gareth Thomas): Colombia is on track to achieve most of the millennium development goals. Good progress has been made towards the targets to achieve universal basic primary education, to eliminate gender disparity in primary education and to reduce maternal mortality. Progress towards the goal of reducing by half the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day remains fragile owing to the recent economic crisis.
Lynne Jones : According to UNICEF education spending needs to increase by 50 per cent. if Colombia is to achieve basic education for all by 2015, yet the high level of indebtedness and the increased military spending owing to the conflict are squeezing out social spending. What help can the Government give to Colombia to ensure that it meets its commitment, given in London, to honour the UN recommendation that a consistent strategy will be developed to reduce illiteracy and unemployment and increase access to health care, education and housing?
Mr. Thomas: I hope that my hon. Friend will be reassured to hear that significant assistance is provided to Colombia to help with its social spending programmes in health and education through, for example, the World Bank, the European Commission and the Inter-American Development Bank. We
continue to have regular discussions and dialogue with those multilateral players to try to ensure that those spending programmes are focused on the efforts to reduce poverty in the areas that I have outlined.
Mr. Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley): As the Minister will know, two of the goals lead with economic sustainability and development. He will know that large tracts of Colombia in the rain forests have been illegally logged to make way for coca plantations. What extra support can the Government give to President Uribe in trying to combat that illegal trade and ensure that the poverty associated with it can be eradicated?
Mr. Thomas: The hon. Gentleman will be delighted to know that the EU intends to publish a draft regulation on the issue of illegal logging following discussions that have taken place in Africa—recently in Cameroon—on making progress in this area, and following other work that has taken place in Asia. Further work is needed in the European Union, and we are active in those discussions, arguing for further action to be taken at European level to reduce the purchase of the products of illegal logging, in this country and other European states.
Mr. Peter Kilfoyle (Liverpool, Walton): I recently visited Colombia, and was impressed by the programmes being sponsored there by Her Majesty's Government. Can the Minister tell me whether those are the very same programmes that are being threatened with cuts in order to pay for the mess created in Iraq?
Mr. Thomas: The programmes in Colombia were coming to an end anyway, regardless of the decisions that we are taking in relation to Iraq. The significant resources going into Colombia through the multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, with which we work closely, will help to continue to improve health care and education services in those countries. On the specific question of Iraq, given the ongoing needs of the Iraqi people, I think that we have taken the right decision to stay with them and to provide further reconstruction assistance.
Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington): In relation to millennium development goal No. 8, can the Minister say what discussions have taken place with the Ministry of Defence about the conditions that should be attached to UK military aid to Colombia? Can the Minister say whether there should be a link between progress in its human rights record and military aid, whether officers coming to the UK for training should be properly vetted and have their visas vetted, and whether, for instance, the Government should ensure that Colombian military units that are receiving aid are not currently involved in any alleged human rights abuses, and have not previously been involved in any alleged human rights abuses?
Mr. Thomas: The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise the issue of human rights abuses, and we continue to be extremely concerned about the ongoing level of such abuses. I was struck by the figures that I saw showing that Colombia sees the highest number of
abuses in terms of the number of members of trade unions. Continuing to reduce the number of human rights abuses by the military and paramilitary forces is essential. In that respect, I am sure that he will be pleased that in July this year a meeting on international support to Colombia was held in London and major donors welcomed the Colombian Government's pledge to implement a series of recommendations from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.AIDS
3. Mr. Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh, North and Leith): If the Government will press other G8 members to ensure more extensive concessions from the pharmaceuticals industry for poorer countries affected by AIDS. [137785]
The Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn): We are seeking to make essential drugs, including those for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, more widely available in developing countries. That includes working with G8 partners, developing country Governments, multilateral institutions, the pharmaceutical industry, investors and non-governmental organisations to encourage companies to reduce their prices.
Mr. Lazarowicz : The agreement on the supply of cheap drugs was of course very welcome, and I pay tribute to the Government's part in achieving that. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will know, however, that some pharmaceutical interests in some countries are trying to limit the scope of the agreement that was arrived at. Does he agree that it is important that the poor and developing countries achieve maximum benefits from this agreement, and will he ensure that the Government work to achieve that in the continuing negotiations over its implementation?
Hilary Benn: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Having achieved this agreement, after the difficulties in securing its negotiation last December, it is important that the countries for which it is designed are able to make full and effective use of it. I assure him that the Government will continue to do all that we can both to support countries in building their capacity to make use of it and in making any necessary changes to our patent legislation in consultation with our European colleagues, to ensure that we have the framework in place, so that if requests are made for drugs to be exported from the UK, that can happen.
Mr. Andrew Robathan (Blaby): While accepting the enormous importance of anti-retroviral treatment, especially for mother-child transmission, does the Secretary of State agree that for countries that have very limited health resources, the example of Uganda shows that the most important factor in combating the AIDS pandemic is education and the behavioural change that can thereby be achieved?
Hilary Benn: The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. The right approach is, in truth, a combination of all those things. In Uganda, political leadership—from the President down—has resulted in real reductions in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in that country. That is an example of leadership that other countries would do well to follow. At the same time, the approach is about providing health support and better nutrition and also taking advantage of the opportunities for treatment that are available because the price of drugs is coming down. A combination of those things will give us the best prospect of supporting African countries, especially where the problem is so great, in tackling the enormous AIDS epidemic.
Linda Gilroy (Plymouth, Sutton): My right hon. Friend said in his initial reply that he is seeking to engage multinationals. Does that include multinationals that are not pharmaceutical companies because they have a great interest in the matter and need to build up their work forces? Will he say a little more about how he will try to engage such companies?
Hilary Benn: As I have indicated, we are engaging the pharmaceutical companies because of the contribution that they can make to bring down the price of the medicines, and doing more research on the diseases to which we paid less attention in the past but that matter enormously to developing countries. My hon. Friend draws attention to what is happening in South Africa, for example, where several mining companies are making anti-retrovirals available to their work forces because they appreciate the benefit of that for not only the health care of their workers, but the impact on their productivity and ability to work. The public health challenge faced by the world and especially sub-Saharan Africa on HIV/AIDS means that there is increased understanding of the economic challenge. If HIV/AIDS is not tackled, the economic disaster that will affect countries will be significant.
Dr. Julian Lewis (New Forest, East): Now that progress has been made on gaining a supply of cheaper anti-AIDS drugs, will the Secretary of State tell us what the Government are doing to ensure that there is improved distribution among the target countries? Does he accept that the scale of the health problem probably compares with that which faced the allies when they liberated the concentration camps, and does he agree that it really requires effort on an international scale? What steps are the Government taking, and what will be the role of international organisations, especially the United Nations, in ensuring that the cheaper drugs are distributed to the people who desperately need them?
Hilary Benn: I welcome the hon. Gentleman to the Dispatch Box in his new capacity. In saying that he puts his finger on the real challenge, the answer to the question is that we should work with all international agencies and companies, including organisations such as the accelerating access initiative, which already has 150 arrangements in place in 56 countries. Donors, those who are concerned and those who provide money have to channel efforts in support of country-owned and country-led programmes. We do not want a multiplicity of people trying to do good. We want to focus our
energy on supporting country Governments, one AIDS commission and one AIDS programme so that we can ensure that we get the maximum benefit from the changes that he described.
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