§ Mr. Michael Forsythasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement regarding the levying of port charges on emergency food packages by the Ethiopian Government.
§ Mr. RaisonThe Ethiopian Maritime and Transit Services Corporation levies port charges on all aid goods. If these are sent to the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission they attract a concessionary agency fee of $3.;81 per metric tonne. If not, they attract the full commercial rate averaging $12.60 per metric tonne. We 135W support the efforts of the World Food Programme to negotiate a reduction in the agency fee for all relief consignments. Overall, Ethiopian port charges are generally in line with those at other African ports.