§ 77. Mr. A. Hendersonasked the Lord Privy Seal what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government on Recommendation No. 288 dealing with co-operation with newly developing countries which was adopted by the Assembly of the Council of Europe on 22nd September, 1961; what action is being taken on it by the Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to which it has been referred by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe; and whether the Government will propose that negotiations should begin, within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, on the means of remedying instability in international commodity trade.
§ Mr. HeathThe Council of Europe's Recommendation No. 288 covers a wide range of the problems of helping underdeveloped countries and reflects a concern which is shared by Her Majesty's Government.
The international staff of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development are studying the Recommendation and it will be submitted to the Council in due course.
Her Majesty's Government do not intend to initiate negotiations within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on means to remedy instability in international commodity trade. This is a difficult complex of problems, with which the member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development are deeply concerned, but they are already under review elsewhere and to start negotiation in a new forum would not in itself help to solve these problems.