HC Deb 10 June 2002 vol 386 cc812-3W
Ann Clwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what issues will be given priority by the Government's representatives on the UK delegation to the International Labour Conference in Geneva in June. [58374]

Mr. MacShane

As in previous years, the Government delegation will participate fully in a wide range of discussions and will be fully represented in all the relevant Committees at the International Labour Conference. Among the items to which it will give particular attention are: discussions which will lead to new international instruments on co-operatives, and on occupational diseases; a general discussion on the informal economy; the special sitting to discuss Burma/Myanmar; and this year's Global Report on Child Labour. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Member for Croydon, North (Malcolm Wicks), who will be attending part of the Conference, will address a plenary session.

Ann Clwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action the Government have taken to implement the resolution on Myanmar adopted at the 88th session of the International Labour Conference in 2000. [58375]

Mr. MacShane

HMG has over many years fully supported the ILO's efforts to permanently end forced labour in Burma. In 1997 the EC suspended Burma's GSP trading privileges in response to concerns about forced labour.

In response to the ILO's recommendations of their 88th session, the then Secretary of State for Education and Employment, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) wrote to employers and workers groups in the UK asking them to review their relations with Burma to ensure they were not assisting the continuance of forced labour in Burma. FCO Ministers also met with representatives of Trades Unions and the Director General of the ILO to discuss promoting the ILO's demands in Burma.

Along with EU colleagues, we have welcomed the appointment of an ILO Liaison Officer in Burma and the recognition that this is an interim step towards the required ILO permanent presence.