HL Deb 26 February 1980 vol 405 cc1328-30WA
Lord KENNET

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether a British delegation attended the Food and Agriculture Organisation's meeting last October; whether they approved the Food and Agriculture Organisation's proposed programme for assisting fisheries in the Third World; and what is to be their contribution to this programme: (a) in terms of finance and (b) in terms of practical assistance.

The SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS (Lord Carrington)

A United Kingdom delegation attended the meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organisation Committee on Fisheries in Rome in October 1979 and joined in giving the Committee's unanimous support for the Food and Agriculture Organisation's proposed Comprehensive Programme of Assistance in the Development and Management of Fisheries in Economic Zones. The programme was subsequently endorsed by the General Conference of Food and Agriculture Organisation in November at which there was also a British delegation.

The proposed programme calls for additional financial assistance mainly from the international development agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Assistance from member nations is called for only in general terms. The Government have made no direct financial or technical commitments to the proposed Food and Agriculture Organisation programme, but within the bilateral aid programme we continue to give both capital aid and technical assistance to the fisheries of a number of developing countries.