G8 Summit: Terrorism (Hansard, 15 July 2002)

§ The Minister for Trade (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)

The summit was an important opportunity to take stock of progress in the fight against terrorism since 11 September and to set priorities for future action in a number of key areas.

In particular, the UK was concerned to counter the threat of terrorist acquisition of nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological materials in the former Soviet Union, especially Russia, where the world's largest stocks of such materials remain. Our priorities were the destruction of chemical weapons, the dismantling of decommissioned nuclear submarines and the employment of former weapons scientists. G8 leaders agreed at Kananaskis to launch the new Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction to help ensure that deadly materials cannot fall into the hands of terrorist groups. The G8 agreed collectively to raise up to 20 billion dollars over the next 10 years to fund projects under the global partnership. As part of the this programme, the UK plans to commit up to 750 million dollars spread over 118WA the next decade. The summit saw similar pledges made by other countries and the start of a dialogue with Russia over how best to implement this programme.

G8 officials have worked since March on a plan to ensure the greater security of international transport, with strong UK support. G8 members continue to work through international fora such as the ICAO and the IMO to encourage others to put in place appropriate transport security measures to guard against terrorism. Leaders agreed at the summit on the Co-operative G8 Action on Transport Security, a plan of action to promote enhanced security of land, sea and air transport while facilitating the cost-effective and efficient flow of people, cargo and vehicles for legitimate economic and social purposes.

The UK is leading co-ordination of international anti-narcotics assistance to Afghanistan. The G8 discussed the UK's anti-narcotics strategy paper and action plans for combating poppy growing in Afghanistan. As we had hoped, agreement was reached that the G8 would step up efforts to assist the Afghan Government combat opium production and trafficking and fulfil Tokyo conference commitments. Breaking Afghan dependence on the drugs trade will help reconstruction efforts, but the wider impact will be in securing regional stability and cutting one of the cash lifelines that allows terrorists to thrive.