§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Overseas Development Administration has had to write off a loss after the acquisition of substandard condoms which were manufactured in South East Asia by Kokup; and, if so, how much was the loss.
§ Baroness Chalker of Wallasey:ODA has written off £17,000 for the safe and effective destruction of 24 million substandard condoms. These were part of a project to supply 66 million condoms to Zimbabwe in 1993 at a total cost of £1.535 million. The defective batch was identified during the post-shipment inspection in Zimbabwe and was burnt, in line with standard and appropriate practice for defective prophylactics. The defective batch of condoms was supplied by DongKuk, a Malaysian manufacturer who had previously supplied the World Health Organisation with condoms of a satisfactory standard. DongKuk replaced the defective condoms at no additional cost. The balance of 44 million condoms was supplied quickly by alternative manufacturers. This project has contributed in a timely way to the prevention of HIV infection in Zimbabwe.
The difficulties of quality control in the manufacture of condoms worldwide has led ODA to implement an independent testing system for the condoms it supplies under the British aid programmes. ODA has also contributed to efforts by the World Health Organisation to promote better quality condom production worldwide.