HC Deb 18 June 2002 vol 387 cc223-4W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Advisory Committee on the Control and Reduction of Pollution Caused by the Discharge of Hydrocarbons and other Dangerous Substances at Sea is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what he annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [61708]

Mr. Spellar

I have been asked to reply.

The Advisory Committee on the Control and Reduction of Pollution Caused by the Discharge of Hydrocarbons and other Dangerous Substances at Sea (known as ACPH) was established in 1980 under Decision Number 80/686/EEC of 25/6/1980 of the European Parliament and the Council. The committee was composed of representatives of member states and was chaired by the European Commission. The terms of reference of the committee were as follows:

  1. 1. To advise the Commission, at the request of the latter or on its own initiative, on all problems concerning the implementation of Community measures for the control and reduction of pollution caused by hydrocarbons discharged at sea; and,
  2. 2. To allow the collection of existing information and experience gained in the member states, on ways of controlling and reducing pollution caused by hydrocarbons discharged at sea, thus facilitating the co-ordination of measures taken or planned at national, international or Community level.

This was amended by Decision Number 85/208/EEC, which expanded the focus of the committee from "hydrocarbons discharged at sea" to "oil and other harmful substances discharged at sea".

This advisory committee provided valuable advice on Commission proposals and its members—who were high-level government experts—acted as the interface between the services of the Commission and the corresponding national administrations. In December 2000 the Commission decided to develop a new committee to address marine pollution issues under new European rules and regulations. Therefore, the Management Committee on Marine Pollution was established under Decision Number 2850/2000/EC of 20/12/2000 of the European Parliament and the Council. This set up a Community framework for co-operation in the field of accidental or deliberate marine pollution. A similar question on the role and cost of this group was answered in column 188W, question number 56809 of the 21 May edition of Hansard.

Together with member states, the Commission is currently conducting a review to bring existing legislation on the conduct of comitology committees into line with Council Decision 1999/468/EC, to "simplify the requirements for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission". As an obligation to this Decision, the Commission undertook to publish an annual report on the working of committees. The first report was deposited in the Libraries of both Houses on 26 February (Corn (2001) 783 Final). As part of the review process, the UK Government has encouraged the Commission to produce and maintain an electronic database of every comitology committee, its agendas and recent actions, to be accessible through its website.