House of Commons
Wednesday 3 March 2004
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—
Animal Quarantine
1. Mr. Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy) (PC): What representations he has received on the problems caused to international rescue dog teams by the operation of the animal quarantine rules. [157871]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr. Gareth Thomas): On 21 January, my right hon. Friend met representatives of the British search and rescue teams that were deployed in response to the devastating earthquake in Iran. Those met included a team who use dogs in their relief effort. They reported a concern that the necessity to put the dogs into quarantine on return to the United Kingdom had an impact on the immediate availability of trained dogs for future search and rescue responses. As a consequence, some dogs are kennelled overseas rather than returned to the UK.
Mr. Llwyd: While I fully accept the need for strict quarantine laws, I do not follow the logic of the argument, which apparently is that when dogs are used outside the European Union there is a risk of rabies and so on. Rabies is prevalent in France, but there is free movement across the channel of hundreds of dogs each day, so I do not see the logic. The problem with the search and rescue team in north Wales is that there are six highly trained specialist dogs and handlers and, at any given time, two or three dogs may be in quarantine for up to six months. It is a long time out of the life of an intelligent animal, and it is a waste of time.
Mr. Thomas: I place on the record my appreciation of the work of search and rescue teams, such as the one to which the hon. Gentleman referred, in both the Bam earthquake and more recently in Algeria. However, it is worth remembering that in both Iran and Algeria there is a high prevalence of rabies. Our strict quarantine laws have served the UK well over the past 30 years. Under the quarantine regulations dogs can be taken out of quarantine for deployment overseas, even though they have to come back into quarantine on their return to the UK. My hon. Friend the Minister with responsibility for
animal health has recently informed search and rescue organisations that they will be permitted to set up their own quarantine facilities, where training of the dogs can continue in quarantine. I hope that that is helpful and encouraging to the team about which the hon. Gentleman spoke.
Mrs. Betty Williams (Conwy) (Lab): The search and rescue team to which the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) referred is based in my constituency. I welcome my hon. Friend's answer to the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question. Will my hon. Friend undertake to consider, with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Home Office Minister responsible, reopening discussions on this very important topic?
Mr. Thomas: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her question. My hon. Friend the Minister with responsibility for animal health has only recently informed the search and rescue organisations that they will be permitted to set up their own quarantine facilities, where training can continue. We need time to see how that change is received and settles down before we consider further discussions, but I shall certainly bear my hon. Friend's point in mind.
Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con): Is it not the case that, as the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) said, the main concern is rabies, and is it not also the case that anti-rabies vaccinations for dogs exist in the United States and elsewhere? To what extent has the Minister investigated the use of such vaccinations in order to enable rescue dogs to travel freely across different countries?
Mr. Thomas: There have been extensive discussions across Government, with the lead being taken by the responsible DEFRA Minister. We have found a way forward that will help search and rescue organisations, while maintaining the strict rabies policy that has served us so well over the years. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will allow the new proposal by that Minister to settle down before he considers continuing to press for further relaxation in this area.
Belize
2. Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab): What aid his Department has given to Belize in the past 10 years. [157872]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr. Gareth Thomas): The Department has provided more than £37 million to Belize in the past 10 years, supporting, for example, education programmes, public sector reform work and the police.
We have also provided debt relief of almost £3 million under the Commonwealth debt initiative, supporting conflict prevention work through the global conflict prevention pool in relation to the Belize-Guatemala border dispute, and have contributed further to Belize through our funding of multilateral organisations such as the United Nations and the European Commission.
Chris Ruane : I thank my hon. Friend for that positive response. He will be aware that we are currently in
Fairtrade fortnight. What actions can he and his Department take to ensure that we can link the burgeoning fair trade movement in this country to primary producers in Belize?
Mr. Thomas: My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that we have provided £225,000 to support cocoa farmers from the Toledo region of Belize, through the Toledo Cocoa Growers Association, to expand the production of their cocoa products and increase their exports overseas. Toledo being one of the poorest areas of Belize, I hope that my hon. Friend will agree that that is step in the right direction for the very poorest people in Belize.
More generally, I would like to place on the record my appreciation, and I am sure the appreciation of the whole House, of the work of the Fairtrade Foundation, and celebrate collectively the fact that the turnover of Fairtrade products in the UK is now about £100 million.
Mr. Robert Walter (North Dorset) (Con): Four years ago, the Government blocked more than £12.5 million of debt relief to Belize. I am pleased to hear from the Minister that some £3 million has been paid to date, but will he tell us when, under the Commonwealth debt initiative, Belize will receive the rest of the relief that it is due?
Mr. Thomas: The hon. Gentleman may like to know that the most recent tranche of debt relief that I signed off in January this year—for next year and a further two years—was as a result of the reform programme taking place in Belize. I have had good discussions with Prime Minister Musa about the reform programme and I hope that he is satisfied with the progress made on debt relief write-off.
Mr. George Foulkes (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab/Co-op): After my questions on Monday and Tuesday, I am tempted to aim for a hat trick of toadying, self-serving sycophancy by saying what a wonderful job the Minister is doing! No doubt, however, I would be accused by the sketchwriters of wanting to become Governor of Bermuda—[Interruption.] What a good idea. Instead, I ask the Minister if he will talk to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about speeding up resolution of the border dispute between Belize and Guatemala, which is limiting the sort of development that is vital for the people of Belize.
Mr. Thomas: I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his searching and robust questioning of the work of my Department. He will know that the new President of Guatemala has recently been confirmed in office, and that we are putting in £1.5 million of global conflict prevention money to help with the resolution of the Belize-Guatemala border dispute. We continue to work closely with the Foreign Office to help promote such resolution, but it is a matter that the two countries ultimately will have to resolve themselves. We will continue to support them in that process.
Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con): It was from Belize 10 years ago that the first fair trade product, Maya Gold chocolate, came into the UK. Although it is good news
that shoppers spend some £2 million on Fairtrade products each week, there is still some way to go. For example, only about 4 or 5 per cent. of bananas purchased are Fairtrade ones. Is not Fairtrade fortnight a good opportunity to make it clear that there is a modest way for every consumer to help farmers in developing countries by buying Fairtrade products such as cocoa, chocolate and bananas, whenever possible?
Mr. Thomas: The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that Fairtrade fortnight provides an excellent opportunity for us, as individual consumers, to do our individual bit to help promote fairer trade. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman would not be upset by my taking this opportunity to confirm that, by the end of 2003, shoppers were spending more than £2 million per week at the checkout on products with the Fairtrade mark. Furthermore, on Monday the Co-op, which has always been the leading supplier of Fairtrade products, pledged to double the size of its own brand range of such products by the end of this year. If other suppliers follow the Co-op's lead, we can expect the fair trade market to continue to grow, which is good news.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |