§ 10. Mr. Jim Cunningham (Coventry, South)If she will make a statement on the World Trade Organisation negotiations in Cancun. [130826]
§ The Minister for Trade and Investment (Mr. Mike O'Brien)Yesterday my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State made a statement to the House on the World Trade Organisation summit at Cancun. My right hon. Friend said that we need to renew discussions based on the concessions offered by delegates at Cancun.
§ Mr. CunninghamI thank my hon. Friend for that answer. I am sure he will appreciate that the situation is serious for the third world. In light of his answer, does he have a time scale for restarting talks with our European partners so that we protect the third world from the worst effects of the breakdown of the talks?
§ Mr. O'BrienAt Cancun a deadline was set of 15 December for a meeting of officials to resolve the issues not sorted out at the WTO summit. My right hon. Friend and I talked to Dr. Supachai, the director-general of the WTO, about how the UK can help to drive the agenda forward. We made it clear that investment and competition should be off the agenda. In addition, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have announced a new initiative to help developing countries to overcome problems in adjusting to a new trading environment. The UK will make a substantial input into the design and implementation of that initiative, so that will help. We are also providing extra funding to developing countries to assist them with the negotiations. In terms of a deadline, we are looking at 15 December, and the UK is doing all it can to help drive negotiations forward.