§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made on a multilateral commitment to eliminate tariffs for the least developed countries. [40620]
§ Clare ShortUK policy towards elimination of barriers to trade for Least Developed Countries (LDC) is set out in the Government's White Paper on International Development published in November 1997. The UK has agreed strongly within Europe and internationally (including through the G8) in pushing for the elimination of tariffs on imports from the LDCs and for eventual agreement to eliminate tariffs within a bound WTO scheme.
Some progress has been made towards this end: a number of member states made commitments to extend their market access for LDCs at the WTO hosted High Level Meeting for LDCs in October last year. Progress will be reviewed at the WTO Ministerial in May this year.
Under the UK Presidency, agreement has been reached within the EU to extend market access to the imports of the nine non-African, Caribbean and Pacific LDCs on terms similar to those available under the Lomé Convention. The UK see this as a first step and will continue to press for duty-free access to the EU market for all Least Developed Countries. In addition, the UK recognises that complex rules of origin can act as a constraint on taking up preferential access. The UK is therefore pressing for an EU commitment to simplify and harmonise the EU preferential origin rules.