Mahogany (Hansard, 24 June 1994)

§ Mr. Dafis
To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what are the sources of his Department's data on the importation of Brazilian mahogany into the United Kingdom;
(2) if he will list the Brazilian companies from which mahogany was imported into the United Kingdom during 1993;
(3) which United Kingdom companies imported mahogany during 1993 from the (a) Bannach, (b) Perachi, (c) Maginco and (d) Impar companies of Brazil;
(4) how much mahogany from Brazil by volume and value was imported into the United Kingdom in 1993.

§ Mr. Needham
There are no official sources for information on the importation of Brazilian mahogany into the United Kingdom. The information has not been available since 1992 because the United Kingdom trade classification no longer separately identifies mahogany from several other non-coniferous woods.
Information on United Kingdom importing companies and Brazilian exporting companies is not available.
332W
from 1989 to 1993. The table gives a breakdown of the ERDF funding provided by objective and by region during that time.
Objective 1 is for development and structural adjustment of the regions whose development is lagging behind. Objective 2 is for converting regions or parts of regions seriously affected by industrial decline. Objective 5(b) is for development of rural areas. These objectives are specifically regional in nature; they involve measures restricted to certain eligible regions or parts of regions.
Smaller sums shown in the table as "miscellaneous", were made available outside the objective 1, 2 and 5(b) areas.

§ Mr. Dafis
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action he intends to take in order to ensure that illegally felled mahogany from Brazil does not enter the United Kingdom.

§ Mr. Needham
The Government have no reliable or practical way of identifying Brazilian mahogany which has come from an illegal source. Nor is there any legitimate way in which the United Kingdom could adopt a national ban on the import of such products. Primary responsibility for ensuring that harvesting and export is carried out lawfully must rest with the Brazilian Government.