§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Malaysia concerning the export of illegal timber products. [63057]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienMinisters from DFID and DEFRA and officials from the Forestry Commission have been party to a number of discussions with the Government of Malaysia this year on environmental and forestry issues including the export of illegal timber products.
Malaysia and the UK both participate in several international environmental fora where illegal logging and related forest issues are discussed at high level such as the Convention on Biodiversity and the United Nations Forum on Forests, which both held constructive meetings earlier this year. The UK was represented at ministerial level at both of these sets of discussions, by my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley) (DEFRA) at the United Nations Forum on Forests and by my right hon. Friend the Member for Oldham, West and Royton (Mr. Meacher) (DEFRA) at the Convention on Biodiversity conference.
The Malaysian Minister for Primary Industries, the hon. Dato' Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, visited the UN on 10 June 2002. During his visit, he met with two Ministers, my right hon. Friend the Member for Oldham, West and Royton (Mr. Meacher) (DEFRA) and my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North (Ms Keeble) (DfID), and discussed the illegal timber trade, certification schemes and related issues.
The UK is funding two projects that should contribute to the sustainable management of tropical forests in Malaysia through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Environment Project Fund.