§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the availability of aid for Caribbean producers during periods of low market prices for primary produce like bananas.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydWe contribute to the EC scheme for the stabilisation of export earnings—Stabex—under Lomé IV, through which 1.5 billion ecu—£1.2 billion—is available during the period 1990–95 towards offsetting any shortfalls for a number of commodities including bananas.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to support economic diversification as a replacement for the banana market in Caribbean ACP nations.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydOur bilateral aid programmes in the Commonwealth Caribbean, as elsewhere, aim to assist long-term economic and social development. In deciding country aid allocations and how funds are used, we take into account all aspects of the individual country's economic development. In the Caribbean our aid has been used to improve the physical infrastructure and human skills needed to help the economies to diversify. We have given particular support to agricultural diversification in these countries in the past and expect to continue to do so. The Commission proposal on the common organisation of the market in bananas is under discussion in the Community. It reflects the commitments to Caribbean and other African, Caribbean, Pacific—ACP—producers contained in Lomé IV.