§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the Taiwanese authorities regarding drift-net fishing; and if he will make it his policy to ban all Taiwanese fishing in waters for which Britain is responsible until the Taiwanese end the use of drift-nets.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydWe have no dealings with the authorities in Taiwan. We welcomed the decision of the authorities in Taiwan in September last year to comply in principle with the resolution on large-scale pelagic drift net fishing adopted by the 44th General Assembly of the United Nations. We also welcomed the additional 693W measures undertaken by the authorities in Taiwan such as a ban on the building of new drift net vessels and a ban on the operation of drift net fishing in the Atlantic. We do not propose to take action against Taiwan fishing vessels.