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Drug Tariff
Earl Howe asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The cost to date (end of August 2007) to carry out both phases of the review of the Arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff is £1.9 million.
Phase 1 (Dressings and Reagents) was successfully implemented in October 2006 and savings of £24 million per annum are being achieved.
Phase 2 (Arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and incontinence appliances and related services) is currently subject to a public consultation which is anticipated to close on 28 December 2007.
It is not possible to forecast the total cost of the review at this stage.
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Economic Partnership Agreements: ACP Countries
The Earl of Sandwich asked Her Majesty's Government:
What transitional arrangements they propose to protect African, Caribbean and Pacific countries after 1 January 2008 from any negative impact of economic partnership agreements they may have entered into with the European Union. [HL824]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for International Development (Baroness Vadera): Economic partnership agreements—EPAs—can be good for development and help countries trade their way out of poverty. They will provide 100 per cent duty-free quota-free access to European Union (EU) markets, and more simple and liberal rules of origin that will make it easier for ACP countries to export goods.
African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries are not expected to open up their markets to the European Union immediately. They have transition periods of up to 15 years to remove their tariffs on EU imports, and are able to protect around 20 per cent of their products. This should allow new arrangements to be put into place before the ACP countries open their markets.
In order to be aware of any negative impacts of EPAs, the UK has pushed for appropriate mechanisms for monitoring and reviewing implementation as well as development impacts, with special attention to the most vulnerable ACP countries and communities, to be a key part of the EPA texts.
If negative impacts are found or predicted, ACP countries will be able to use the safeguard mechanisms included in EPAs. These provide for the possibility that the market access provisions can be temporarily curtailed where it can be demonstrated that there is a surge of imports and that they are causing serious injury or market disruption to either ACP or European Union suppliers.
Embryology
Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 28 June (WA 159), whether they now have more up-to-date information on in vitro fertilisation treatment cycles and human embryos created since 1991, and the number of children born using human embryos created since 1991; and what percentage of non-frozen and frozen embryos created since 1991 have resulted in live births. [HL837]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has a policy of continuing to correct data as
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(2) Embryos used in these cycles may have been created in previous years as part of fresh treatment cycles.
(3) These are IVF cycles that, although started, did not progress to embryo transfer. These embryos may have been used in a patient's later frozen treatment cycles or for embryo donation. No data are held for years 1991-98.
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