§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the next meeting on the Biosafety Protocol will take place; what preparations are being made by his Department for input into the EU position; and if he will make a statement. [94827]
§ Mr. HainThe resumed extra-ordinary conference of the Parties on Biosafety Protocol will take place in Montreal on 24-28 January 2000. My Department is working closely with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and other Government Departments in assessing the options put forward by other negotiating groups in the informal consultations in Vienna. Our posts are also active in feeding in information on developments in other countries for consideration in discussion with EU partners.
§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the prospects of the Extraordinary Conference of the parties meeting in Montreal under the auspices of the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity in January 2000 concluding the Biosafety Protocol. [94869]
§ Mr. HainEarly agreement of a workable and effective Biosafety Protocol is an important objective for this Government. We welcomed the decision made by Minister Mayr to resume the extra-ordinary Conference of the parties to agree the Protocol and particularly the strong political commitment to complete the Protocol expressed by all negotiating groups at the informal consultations in September. Hard work is still needed to come to final agreement on the outstanding issues to be covered under the Protocol. We will be making every effort to promote successful completion of the negotiations.